The USA Forest Service National Technology and Developing program is celebrating 75 years of innovation.

"Originally we were established to re-purpose military equipment and material after World War II and see if we could retrofit that equipment for wild land fire suppression purposes, noted Program Director, Alex Gavrisheff.

He went on to say since 1945 the amount of innovation and scope of mission for the equipment and development centers in California and Montana has evolved. And while aspects like engineering and and ecosystem management are important areas covered by the National Technology and Development Center, "still half of our mission, at least 50%, supports fire suppression."

That includes improvements to fire personnel equipment such as fire shelters, and inspection and testing of equipment such as air tankers.

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