Interviewer
Floyd Cowles
Files
Description
Edward “Ed” Heilman discusses his career in the U.S. Forest Service. He talks about joining Forest Service in 1945, at the age of 16, and being stationed at the Blue Canyon Fire Station in California’s Tahoe National Forest. He describes his duties and numerous fires on which he worked. Heilman recalls his time at the University of Montana’s School of Forestry which he attended in 1946. He also discusses being assistant ranger on the Cleveland National Forest in California and talks about the firebombing experiments at that time. He mentions working in New Mexico in 1967, as the first director of the National Fire Training Center. Heilman then discusses working in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, until 1974 when he became director of Aviation and Fire Management in the Northern Region office based in Missoula, Montana. He explains the natural role of fires in context with forest preservation and fire prevention.
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Document Type
Oral History
Subjects
U.S. Forest Service; U.S. Forest Service Northern Region; Aviation and Fire Management, Officials and employees; Forest fires, Western United States; Fire prevention and control; Blue Canyon Fire Station, California; Big Bend Ranger District; Tahoe National Forest; Firebombing experiments; National Fire Training Center; Cleveland National Forest; Fire lookouts; World War, 1939-1945; Korean War, 1950-1953; Reserve Officers’ Training Corps [ROTC]; Rights Creek, California; Shasta-Trinity National Forest; Pattee Canyon, Missoula, Montana
Original Date
6-24-1984
Time Period
Twentieth century
Geographic Coverage
Montana
Language
eng
Original Collection
Forestry, Land Use, and Conservation Oral History Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula
Digital Publisher
University of Montana--Missoula. Mansfield Library
Rights
Copyright to this collection is held by the interview participants and by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula. Permission may be required for use. For further information please contact Archives and Special Collections: (406) 243-2053 / library.archives@umontana.edu
Oral History Number
OH 128-001
Media Type
Sound; Text
Original Format
1 sound cassette (90 min.): analog + 1 transcript (11 p.: 28 cm.)
Digital Format
audio/mp3; application/pdf
Run Time
00:44:50 minutes
Local Filename
OH_128_001.mp3; OH_128_001.pdf
Citation
Heilman, Edward George, "Edward George “Ed” Heilman, June 24, 1984" (1984). Forestry, Land Use, and Conservation Interviews Oral History Collection. 7.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/forestrylanduseconservation_interviews/7