Keep it Wild – How Resource Advisors help protect Wilderness during a wildfire
Jasmine Baerg, in the field, 2026
Jasmine Baerg and Nancy Moundalexis both worked as USFS Resource Advisors on the West Zone of the Wilderness during an active 2026 wildfire season. In this interview we learn more about the work that Resource Advisors do in the field to help train and assist firefighting crews, which sometimes includes teaching firefighters how to paddle canoes and locate campsites in the Wilderness.
Portaging into a wildfire supression area, 2026
Helicopter with sling load, 2026
Working alongside firefighting crews, the role of a Resource Advisor is to help lessen the long-term impacts of wildfire-supression efforts in ecologically sensitive areas like the BWCAW. (All photos courtesy of USDA Forest Service, Superior National Forest, 2026)
Keep it Wild is supported in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
