Aaron Baldwin

Wildland fire has evolved into a faster, more destructive force that poses urgent and disproportionate risks to Tribal lands, where landscapes are inseparable from culture, identity, and sovereignty. While fire has long been a vital tool in Indigenous stewardship practices, today’s extreme wildfire conditions—driven by fuel accumulation, and development—require decisive suppression to protect irreplaceable cultural resources, sacred sites, and communities. Suppression, in this context, is not a rejection of traditional fire use but a necessary defense of it. At the same time, proactive strategies such as cultural burning remain essential for long-term resilience and should be supported and elevated. Addressing modern wildfire challenges also demands systemic change: the current fragmented federal response structure limits speed and effectiveness. The establishment of a unified U.S. Wildland Fire Service aims to improve coordination, strengthen initial attack, and better support Tribal, state, and local partners. Ultimately, effective wildfire response on Tribal lands is a matter of protecting lives, honoring sovereignty, and preserving cultural heritage that cannot be replaced.

Speaker Biography

Aaron Baldwin – Director of the Office of Tribal Trust, United States Wildland Fire Service

Aaron Baldwin is the Director of the Office of Tribal Trust for the U.S. Wildland Fire Service. He began his career in wildland fire in 1996 as an Administratively Determined (AD) on-call firefighter. During those early years, he split his time between running crews and engines, along with a short stint in the coordination system. Baldwin later served as the Fire Management Officer for the National Park Service at Lake Mead for five years. In 2012, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he spent three years as the Bureau of Indian Affairs Associate Director of Fire Policy and Resource Protection. Over the course of his career, Baldwin has also served as the BIA Fire Director and the Bureau of Land Management Division Chief of Fire Operations. Most recently, in 2021 he returned to serve again as the BIA fire director.

In the years ahead, he is excited to work alongside the leadership of the U.S. Wildland Fire Service to strengthen engagement with tribes in wildland fire management. He also looks forward to continuing to build understanding across the service about the importance of tribal partnerships and the opportunities to work together.