The Background
“Discussions of sexual harassment in polite company tend to rely on euphemisms: harassment becomes ‘inappropriate behavior,’ assault becomes ‘misconduct,’ rape becomes ‘abuse.’ We're accustomed to hearing those softened words, which downplay the pain of the experience…”
“…what these women lack in numbers, they make up for in guts and inspiration, paving the way for the next generation of women firefighters.”
“The [forest service]’s 11 hotshot crews employ one to three women on a typical 20-person team, and this year there are three female smokejumpers of 140 nationwide.”
“Women in the US Forest Service love what they do. But they also describe a toxic male environment that tolerates, and even promotes, their harassers.”
Follow the story
Meet an amazing woman, Kelly Martin, whose daring action is helping make positive changes in our culture.
“She felt perpetrators needed to be held accountable for their actions. Someone needed to do something. After some deep reflection, she pondered, ‘If not me, who? If not now, when?’ She looked into and decided to become a ‘whistleblower.’ Even though she knew she was putting her 32-year career at risk, she was determined to help make a change…”
Read the story: https://www.womenwhodared.org/home/kelly-martin/
Out Here, No One Can Hear You Scream
“We’re used to hearing stories of sexual harassment in the Army, the Navy, or within the police force; 25 years after the Tailhook scandal, when scores of Marine and Naval officers allegedly sexually assaulted some 83 women and seven men at a military convention, there’s a general cultural understanding of what women face in traditionally male-dominated public institutions. The agencies that protect America’s natural heritage enjoy a reputation for a certain benign progressivism—but some of them have their own troubling history of hostility toward women…”
Read the story: https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/park-rangers/
Women In Fire
“Lacey England flew in a helicopter nine times before she ever had to make a landing in one. That’s because those first eight flights she took, she got her feet back on land by rappelling to the ground, first in rookie training, then as a certified member of the Gallatin Rappel Crew, based on Montana’s Custer-Gallatin National Forest.
Read the story: https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/virginia/stories-in-virginia/trailblazers-women-in-fire/
After Fire Chief’s testimony, Yosemite’s Superintendent is forced out
“He was given the option of transferring from Yosemite National Park to Denver, but decided to retire.
Kelly Martin, the Chief of Fire and Aviation Management at Yosemite, was one of two current National Park Service employees categorized as whistleblowers that testified in the hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The topic of the hearing was ‘misconduct and mismanagement in the National Park Service’…”
Read the story: https://wildfiretoday.com/2016/09/30/after-fire-chiefs-testimony-yosemites-superintendent-is-forced-out/
How a Yosemite Official Is Leading the Fight on Sexual Harassment
“While attending Northland College in Wisconsin, Kelly Martin spent time living in a teepee with friends in 30 degrees-below-zero weather. It was one of the most extraordinary experiences of her life, she said, and the memory of the grit and determination it took to live there has stayed with her to this day…”
Read the story: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-a-yosemite-official-is-leading-the-fight-on-sexual-harassment/
Wild Ideas Worth Living: Lacey England
Fighting wild fires is a career I never heard much about as a kid, so I was fascinated by how Lacey got into it. She shared her story, plus the less than glamorous life of her job (it involves Spam and carrying insanely heavy packs), what her day-to-day training entails and what it’s like to be in a field that is dominated by people that don’t look like her. Plus, she tells us why she’s passionate about inspiring the next generation of young women to pursue careers that may fall outside the norm…”
Listen to the podcast: https://www.rei.com/blog/podcasts/wild-ideas-worth-living-lacey-england
Women on the Firelines
They've had morning introductions. They've heard the weather forecast. They've carefully reviewed plans and discussed safety issues. They've donned protective gear, checked radios and dispersed to vehicles to start the day's activity: a controlled burn on 250 acres of longleaf pine forest and grasslands at The Nature Conservancy's Disney Wilderness Preserve. While controlled burns aren’t uncommon on this 11,500-acre preserve in central Florida, this crew is a first: an all-female team of 15 women from TNC and partner agencies.
Read the story: https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/florida/stories-in-florida/all-women-controlled-burn/
Make a donation.
Anchor Point tells the story of women in wildland fire and how they fight not only fires but also the culture of discrimination and harrassment in fire and the national parks services.
Your generous donation will do directly to supporting the filmmakers behind the scenes, as well as our fiscal sponsor the Utah Film Center.
All donations through the Film Center are tax-deductible.Get in touch.
ANCHOR POINT is a story about the women of wildland firefighting who are determined to change the culture of discrimination and harassment that has left them marginalized for decades.
If you would like to learn more, support ANCHOR POINT and the women of wildland firefighting, or learn about opportunities to sponsor the film as a producer, fund a firefighter scholarship and/or attend a prescribed burn training, send us an email using the form below.
Many Women Strong: A Handbook For Women Firefighters
There is a handbook specifically for female firefighters. Check it out.
This publication was prepared for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s U.S. Fire Administration under contract No. EME-504651. Points of view or opinions expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the U.S. Fire Administration. (1999)