PHOTOS: In order to become a wildland firefighter, you have to pass the pack test. This requires trainees walk three miles in less than 45 minutes while carrying a 45-pound pack. Mikaela Balkind and her co-instructor showed up to the pack test wearing matching disco ball earrings along with glitter for anyone who needed more encouragement.
The test happened this fall on the final day of the Women in Wildfire Training at the University of Montana’s Lubrecht Experimental Forest Balkin is a UM graduate student and created this training to empower women to join the wildlife profession.
As of now women make up less than 15% of the national workforce. “When you look at the media about firefighters, women and BIPOC people don’t see representations of themselves,” Balkind said. “So it feels really scary to break into a field where no one that looks like you is saying ‘you got this.’ We’re trying to break down those barriers.”
