Seth Morphis selected as smoke management specialist focused on policy

News Release Date: September 12, 2024

Contact:Tina Boehle, 208-387-5875

Seth Morphis, the smoke management program coordinator for the Northern Rockies Region of the US Forest Service (USFS), has been selected for the new smoke management specialist (senior policy) position hosted by the National Park Service (NPS) Branch of Wildland Fire. The position serves in an intra- and inter- agency capacity. Seth will serve as the senior policy staff expert for wildland fire smoke management issues for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the NPS. He will provide senior-level advice and support to Department of the Interior Office of Wildland Fire and bureau directors, assistant directors, and division chiefs in policy guidance and technical evaluation.

Seth is looking forward to returning to the NPS where he began his career as a natural resources summer intern in West Virginia. After studying environmental science, he entered the air quality arena through South Carolina's Bureau of Air Quality where he navigated regulatory challenges with private industry and land managers, including smoke management issues. He then transitioned to the Department of Defense where his work focused on air quality policy, including prescribed fire, for the departments of the Navy and Marine Corps. Seth then moved to the mountain west to work with the USFS Northern Rockies Regional Office's Fire and Aviation Management section. For the past six years, he has focused on smoke management from prescribed fire and wildfire while working closely with prescribed fire practitioners from the private, state, and federal sectors through the Montana/Idaho Airshed Management Group. During wildland fire season, Seth serves as an Air Resource Advisor (ARA) and enjoys integrating smoke modeling and monitoring into prescribed fire implementation and wildfire management.

In his free time, Seth is a half-back for the Thomas Meagher Hurling Club, enjoys hunting and fishing in Montana's backcountry, and hanging out with his wife, family, and friends.