Karnahan knows a lot
about wildland fire. For 15 years, he worked for the USDA Forest Service as a seasonal
firefighter and later as a graphic artist and public affairs specialist. He remains under
contract to prepare paintings for Forest Service posters and publications. His paintings,
based on years of personal experience on the firelines, are full of highly accurate
detail. They also reflect his emotional commitment to wildland firefighting and to
conserving our public wildland treasures.
Karnahan spent most of his Forest Service career
in the Sierra Nevada, CA. He worked as a firefighter and in fuels management on the
Eldorado, Plumas, and Sequoia National Forests; and in recreation on the San Bernardino
National Forest. In addition, he designed posters for public education on the National
Forest System and implemented visual interpretation programs for the Stanislaus National
Forest. He has also done design and interpretive work for California’s Department of
State Parks and Recreation.
Karnahan has been oil painting since he was 8
years old. In addition to painting wildlands, Karnahan has been capturing the history of
the American railroads on canvas for more than 20 years. He has completed a calendar on
American railroads, and his artwork has been featured on numerous book and magazine
covers. He also promotes art education for children in local schools. “It’s
satisfying,” he says. “Usually, I’ll sell my paintings and won’t see
them again. What I’m doing becomes part of the community.”
But that’s not all. Karnahan also plays and
writes music for the Black Irish Band, which he
founded in 1989 in his home town of Sonora, CA. The band plays old and new music in many
styles, including Celtic, Sicilian, Spanish, railroad, Gold Rush, and maritime. “I
write songs about people and places and events that influence my life,” says
Karnahan, “and I’m fascinated by history.” That history, of course,
includes wildland firefighting. One of Karnahan’s songs is about the Mann Gulch Fire,
in which 13 smokejumpers lost their lives in a 1949 blowup on a Montana hillside. After
the disaster, which Karnahan calls a modern tragedy, the Forest Service revised its
standards for wildland firefighting. Karnahan felt compelled to write a song about what
happened. ~People are crying out, ‘Remember us, remember our time,”’ he
says. “To me, we all connect together. That’s what makes us who we are.”
