NATIONAL WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

NATIONAL WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

CONTENTS

PREFACE

Chapter 1 A NATIONAL COHESIVE WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 1: NATIONAL CHALLENGES - MANAGING WILDFIRE ON THE NATIONAL LANDSCAPE

National Challenges

Engaging the Public

More Resilient Landscapes in Dynamic Environments

Roles and Responsibilities

Agency and Mission Differences

Building on Past Success and Shared Understanding

Shared Assumptions

PART 2: GUIDING PRINCIPLES AND CORE VALUES

PART 3 : NATIONAL GOALS AND PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Restore and Maintain Landscapes

Fire Adapted Communities

Wildfire Response

Monitoring and Evaluation

PART 4 : GOVERNANCE

Overall Governance of the Cohesive Strategy

Future Governance

Regional Strategy Committees

PART 5

Wildfire Risk Assessment Process

Regional Strategies and Assessments

Regions

Comparing National and Regional Strategies

Phase II: Development of Regional Strategies and Assessments

Phase III: National Trade-off Analysis and Execution

Conclusion

APPENDIX A: COMPA RATIVE RISK ASSESSMENT

A Comparative Risk Assessment Framework for Wildland Fire Management

I. Background

Essential Elements for Analyzing Risk

Balancing Regional and National Priorities

II. Probabilistic Assessment of Wildfire Risk: A National Example

III. Exploring Options for Reducing Risk

Option 1. Invest to Prevent Human Caused Ignitions

Option 2. Invest in Fuel Treatments

Option 3. Invest to Build Capacity in Fire Response

Option 4. Invest to Protect Values Exposed to Risk

IV. Risk Analyses at Smaller Spatial Scales

Example Project Scale Prototype

V. Historic Range of Variability for Wildfire Risk

Sustainability

Conclusions

Literature Cited

APPENDIX B: GLOSSARY

Appendix C: Acronym List

APPENDIX D: REFERENCES

Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy Foundational Documents

References and Documents (1999-2009)

APPENDIX E: WILDLAND FIRE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP

APPENDIX F: COHESIVE STRATEGY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE

APPENDIX G: PROJECT MANAGEMENT TEAM

APPENDIX H: WILDLAND FIRE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP

APPENDIX I: PROCESS OVERVIEW

Chapter 2 THE FEDERAL LAND ASSISTANCE, MANAGEMENT AND ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2009: REPORT TO CONGRESS*

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

THE FLAME ACT: THE NEXT STAGE IN THE PROCESS OF EVOLUTION

FLAME ACT ELEMENT 1: MOST COST-EFFECTIVE MEANS FOR ALLOCATING BUDGET RESOURCES

FLAME ACT ELEMENT 2: REINVEST IN NON-FIRE PROGRAMS

FLAME ACT ELEMENT 3: ASSESSING RISK TO COMMUNITIES

Identifying Risks

Community Wildfire Protection Planning

Fire-Adapted Communities

Fire-Adapted Communities within a Cohesive Strategy

Local Fit, National Programs

All Must be Involved

FLAME ACT ELEMENT 4: EMPLOY APPROPRIATE MANAGEMENT RESPONSE

Local, State, Tribal and Federal Fire Suppression Partnership

Protection Expectations and Responsibilities

Guidance from Mutual Expectations for Preparedness and Suppression in the Interface

Fire Prevention

FLAME ACT ELEMENT 5: ALLOCATION OF HAZARDOUS FUEL REDUCTION FUNDING BASED ON PRIORITY PROJECTS

Current State of Hazardous Fuel Reduction Projects

Prioritization of Fuel Reduction Work

Prioritization of Local Fuel Reduction Work

Moving Forward

Landscapes

FLAME ACT ELEMENT 6: ASSESSING THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY OF WILDFIRE

Magnitude, Scope and Geographic Location of Impacts

Climate, Wildfire, Biomass and Carbon Management Concerns

Reducing Carbon Emissions

Next Steps

FLAME ACT ELEMENT 7: STUDY THE EFFECTS OF INVASIVE SPECIES ON WILDFIRE RISK

Background

Coordinated National Actions Are Needed

Invasive Species Research Projects

RECOMMENDED MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Approaches for Addressing Wildfire

Restore and Maintain Landscapes

Estimated Costs Associated with Approaches

Costs are not always Preceded by a Dollar Sign

TRADE-OFFS ASSOCIATED WITH APPROACHES AND COSTS

Evaluation of the Trade-Offs

Regionalized Trade-Off Analyses

In Summary

Chapter 3 A COMPARATIVE RISK ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK FOR WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT: THE 2010 COHESIVE STRATEGY SCIENCE REPORT

ABSTRACT

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

2. THE COHESIVE STRATEGY

3. RISK FRAMEWORK

4. WILDFIRE RISK CASE STUDIES

Fire Modeling

Local-Scale Demonstration (Deschutes National Forest)

Local-Scale Demonstration (Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest)

Regional-Scale Demonstration

National-Scale Demonstration Overview

National Results Summary

5. COMPARATIVE RISK MITIGATION (EXPLORING OPTIONS FOR REDUCING RISK)

Option 1. Invest to Prevent Human-Caused Ignitions

Option 2. Invest in Fuel Treatments

Project-Scale Fuels Treatment

Forest-Level Fuels Treatment

National Fuels Treatment

Option 3. Invest to Build Capacity in Fire Response

Option 4. Invest to Protect Values Exposed to Risk

General Observations on Analyzing Options

6. OTHER RELATED EFFORTS

Relation to the Previous Cohesive Strategy and Policy—Moving beyond FRCC

Wildfire Ignition and its Relation to Risk

Carbon and Emissions

Relationship to Existing State and Regional Wildfire Risk Assessments

Similarities and Differences with HFPAS Planning Efforts

Comparison of Wildfire Risk Measures with National Insect and Disease Risk Map

7. SCIENCE LIMITATIONS

Defining and Measuring Risk

The Tipping Point Problem: Temporal Dynamics

Accounting for a Changing Climate

Quantifying Treatment Effectiveness

Resource Value Measures

Socioeconomic Vulnerability

Smoke Management

8. POLICY ISSUES FOR TRADEOFF ANALYSIS

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUDING REMARKS

REFERENCES

End Notes

INDEX