Paul Linse

Paul is the USDA Forest Service, Fire & Aviation Management, National Aviation Program Director. He has been in Fire & Aviation Management for over 40 years, working for both the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

He has extensive wildland fire and aviation operations experience at all levels of the agencies. Paul has been in the Forest Service National Office in Washington DC and Boise Idaho NIFC for over 18 years. In 2020, he was selected for the National Aviation Program Director position. The Forest Service National Aviation Office staff of almost 60 people supports aviation activities for wildland fire and resource management throughout the Forest Service as well as supporting interagency wildland fire response for the Department of the Interior, Tribal, state and local agencies. The national office provides contracts, policy, budget, safety, aircraft coordination and operational oversight for over 500 contracted aircraft and over 1000 carded pilots.