FEATURE SERVING FLORIDIANS THROUGH WILDFIRES AND STORMS Florida Forest Service's Role in Post-Hurricane Irma Relief and Recovery By JIM KARELS, Florida State Forester At the Logistical Staging Area (LSA) in Lehigh Acres, Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam discusses the strategy for distributing post-Irma supplies with the FFS Green IMT's Incident Commander John Kern and team members. FLORIDA RECENTLY CONCLUDED one of our most challenging wildfire seasons in the past decade; therefore, it's not surprising that most of the public solely associates wildland firefighting with the Florida Forest Service (FFS). The same skills that lend themselves to fighting wildfires, however, Florida Forests 11 Fall/Winter 2017 also enable FFS to provide leadership, crisis management and support in other emergencies, such as hurricanes.