Tribute to NSA Board Member Fred Cooper
Posted: April 24, 2026
Fred was the ‘poster boy,’ for the 1964 RAC dedication and open house poster
Fred Cooper was a smokejumper for the U.S. Forest Service in Washington (NCSB) and Oregon from 1962 to 1967, making 73 parachute jumps, 42 on fires. After smokejumping, Fred began a career in the Forest Service in Human Resources. In 1986, he transferred to Washington, D.C., completing his career in HR policy for the Secretary of Agriculture in 1996. Fred had a private consulting practice for several years and is now a board member for the National Smokejumper Association and for the National Museum of Forest Service History, living in Missoula, Montana.
Fred is an avid history buff. Five years ago, he started researching and documenting the history of one of the smokejumper bases in Oregon. While doing this, he discovered a thorough research of the relevant events leading up to the successful Smokejumper Experiment in 1939 had not been completed and documented. Nor had the trials and tribulations during the 58 jumps in the fall of 1939 in Winthrop, Washington, or the biographies of the 16 men who made the experiment successful.
At the conclusion of the Spring 2026 NSA Board of Directors meeting, NSA President Mike Bina honored longtime board member Fred Cooper upon his retirement after 25 years of dedicated service.
Fred played a key leadership role in the NSA’s TRAMPS trail-improvement program for many years, while also contributing to numerous other initiatives. Several fellow board members joined President Bina in recognizing Fred’s outstanding contributions during the meeting.
