Woodlands Essay Example

Woodlands Essay Example Woodlands Essay Woodlands Essay When woodlands are set ablaze by man or nature made fires, it takes extreme effort on the part of local authorities and communities to put the fires out. In the woods, wildfires can happen naturally on an almost daily basis. In each incident of wild fire, getting to the heart of the flames to snuff it out involves heavy machinery and brave firefighters. There are instances when the fire is too out of control and driving a truck through the wood to put it out simply just won’t do. There are cases when helicopters that could douse the flames from up high cannot fly chose enough due to the treacherous smoke that could engulf them whole, denying the pilot of needed vision top steer clear of potential hazards. In these cases, we smokejumpers zoom in to save the day.Smokejumpers are wildland firefighters who specialize in parachuting into the wild to put out dangerous fires. We are trained with the use of two forest terrain type chutes namely the round and ram-air types which are em ployed by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land management respectively. We make jumps from high flying air planes that are faster than any chopper and drop onto the ground to reach a wild fire several times sooner than it would take any engine crew travelling on rough forest terrain. Given remote circumstances, we can outfit no more than typical hand tools like shovels, chainsaws and pulaskis or portable pumps to put the fire out. In most cases, the remote conditions leave us to improvise as much as we can in order to get the job done.There are several bases as to why I chose smoke jumping as my profession and stayed in it for seven years running, but the one major reason is because I believe that wildfires are truly a hazard that should be taken seriously. When I was younger, living in Montana exposed me to local news regarding how rampant the incidents could get. I’ve seen my share of sad stories regarding people trapped in wildfires with no one able to help them. Thes e early experiences caused the awakening of my perception towards the issue of keeping the wild safe from fires. Because of my initial interest, I sought for means through which I could obtain more information about my newfound interest. Luckily, my father’s friend happened to be a smoke jumper.Whenever he would visit, he would show me pictures of him in his jumps, landing on soft earth with nothing but a shovel and an axe. The pictures gave me the impression of how exciting and dangerous fighting fires in the wild could be. They also showed me that in the isolated areas where wildfires usually begin, urgency is at utmost important concern. If smoke jumpers weren’t there to prevent early fires from spreading, consequences could be disastrous. My reflections regarding my father’s friend’s experiences, the events that I’ve observed in the news about how bad wildfires could get, and other readings that I’ve made regarding what a smoke jumper do es inspired me altogether to sign up to be one. I took up several classes in fire technical specializations and eventually qualified to be a smoke jumper.Smoke jumping has turned out to be a very rewarding profession. I have always wanted to travel. Smoke jumping fulfills that dream of mine in two ways. Firstly, since smokejumpers are widely used in the United States for wildfire containment and there are not as many people brave enough to take the job as there are fires to put out, I usually get to travel from state to state. Secondly, being a smoke jumper necessarily makes parachuting a common event. This means that smoke jumping gives me the opportunity to jump from planes and into fires on a regular basis. Another reason why smoke jumping is very rewarding is that it lets me stay in shape. One cannot continue to be a smoke jumper if one is not in the best physical shape, mental, and psychological shape.Under the extreme conditions that smoke jumping puts upon me, I have to be ab le to handle physically challenging situations effectively, I have to stay on my wits and most importantly, I have to keep my nerves steady. These pre-requisites have led me to train hard every day and as a result maintain a healthy body, mind and lifestyle. While my younger experiences made me aware of the problem of wildfires, the courses that I took in preparing me for smoke jumping training made me understand the wildfire problem both in theory and practice. Thus, smoke jumping has taught me a great deal about how nature works and the management of fauna that it takes to restore or preserve our native ecosystems.Smoke jumping takes a great effort to pursue as a full time profession. The physical toll is enormous. Many smoke jumpers hang their chutes by the time they are 30. This is because the years of extreme exertions could wear out one’s limbs to make further exertions lethal. Another factor is that smoke jumping virtually takes out your social life. The intensive trai ning and maintenance needed for the job hardly leaves me any time to go out on dates! However despite of these factors, smoke jumping is still the job that I was born to do, and I will do it for as long as I possibly can.