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Collaborative Approach to Community Wildfire Hazard Reduction
"This paper highlights the very successful collaborative approach to community wildfire hazard reduction being used in the 5 county NW [Northwest] Region of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. NW Region cooperators have created a successful model to help affected communities reduce their risks to wildland fire. Identified high risk communities have been approached by a multi-agency team with Firewise education and hazard assessment methodology. Participating communities have received mini-Firewise workshops, community hazard assessments and hazard mitigation planning assistance. By working collaboratively with communities, local fire districts, County Conservation Districts, County Fire Marshal's Offices and Departments of Emergency Management, as well as other State and Federal fire managers, dramatic results in the Region have been achieved. The Firewise Communities/USA model has been used to guide communities through a nationally recognized process of risk assessment, mitigation planning and community specific outcome based solutions. Community fuels reduction efforts have focused on the creation of defensible space and shaded fuel breaks, reducing structural ignitability, as well as implementation of forest stewardship and greenbelt plans. Community recognition by the Firewise Communities/ USA program is the measure of success."
United States. Forest Service
Titus, Marc; Hinderman, Jennifer
2006
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Mount St. Helens Volcanic Activity Response Plan [2006]
"This revision of the Mount St. Helens Contingency Plan reflects the incorporation of 'Lessons Learned' from the 2004 eruption and an ongoing commitment to the management objectives and philosophies implemented during the past 25 years. The intention throughout the development and updating of this plan has been to keep it as brief as possible. The focus of this document is to define responsibilities of the U.S.D.A Forest Service in carrying out mandated policies. Effective management of volcano emergencies requires an effective team of cooperating agencies and organizations able to provide a coordinated response. This coordination with local, state and other federal agencies will be enhanced at all opportunities. The Forest Service has taken the lead in the updating of this plan. Continued coordination and maintenance of interagency working relationships needs to be supported by all agencies."
United States. Forest Service
2006
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Wildland-Urban Interface/Fire Management Specialist Report: Kiowa, Rita Blanca, Black Kettle and McClellan Creek National Grasslands Plan Revision, Environmental Impact Statement Analysis
"Alternative A would establish wildland fire use and prioritized fuel reduction treatments, provide for meeting Federal and state air quality regulations, select an appropriate suppression strategy on all fires, develop and annually update fire management plans, use unplanned fires to meet resource objectives, reduce the number of human-caused wildfires, and increase public awareness for the need to use fire as a management tool. Alternative B would emphasize reducing the threat of wildfire to communities by treating wildland-urban interface (WUI) areas and would provide for an annual treatment of 2,000 to 3,000 acres per year with prescribed fire, mechanical methods, and/or thinning to reduce fire hazard in the WUI areas. A standard would require that response to unplanned ignitions meet either protection or resource objectives. Coordination with other jurisdictions in response to unplanned ignitions should be emphasized. Future planned ignitions should mimic the historical role of fire to achieve resource objectives. Alternative C would provides the same WUI and fire management direction as alternative B and similar direction to alternative A. However, WUI would not apply in a wilderness, and planned and unplanned ignitions would be subject to directives in FSM 2320. Planned ignitions would be allowed when mimicking the historical fire regime for the vegetation type present in the potential wilderness (pinyon-juniper) and for fuel reduction."
United States. Forest Service
2011-05
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Proceedings of the Second Conference on the Human Dimensions of Wildland Fire
From the Abstract: "This proceedings contains articles, posters, and abstracts of presentations from the second Human Dimensions of Wildland Fire Conference held 27-29 April 2010 in San Antonio, Texas. The conference covered the social issues at the root of wildland fire management's most serious challenges. Specific topics included: firefighter and public safety; social acceptance of fuels treatments; community and homeowner fire hazard mitigation; public responses during fires and fire-related evacuations; fire communication and education; and the performance of fire management organizations--from operational efficiency to cost management and from community relations to risk management. The conference included 59 presentations, three special sessions, and nine poster presentations. Conference attendees included fire researchers and wildland fire management practitioners from the United States, Australia, Canada, Portugal, England, and The Netherlands."
United States. Forest Service
McCaffrey, Sarah M.; Fisher, Cherie LeBlanc
2011-08
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National Database of State and Local Wildfire Hazard Mitigation Programs
"The national database of state and local wildfire hazard mitigation programs serves as a clearinghouse of information about nonfederal policies and programs that seek to reduce the risk of loss of life and property through the reduction of hazardous fuels on private lands." The database is searchable, or may be viewed by state or program type in index view.
United States. Forest Service
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Fuel Treatments, Fire Suppression, and Their Interactions with Wildfire and Its Effects: The Warm Lake Experience During the Cascade Complex of Wildfires in Central Idaho, 2007
"During the summer of 2007, wildfires burned over 500,000 acres within central Idaho. Starting in 1996, fuel treatments were implemented to offer protection to over 70 summer homes and other structures located near Warm Lake, approximately 20 miles east of Cascade Idaho. The wildfires of 2007 burned through and around the treatment areas with a variety of intensities, resulting in a variety of burn severities. This paper examines how the Monumental and North Fork Fires behaved and interacted with fuel treatments, suppression activities, topographical conditions, and the short- and long-term weather conditions. Our research included a combination of site visits both during and after the fires, flights over the terrain, 22 interviews with people assigned to the Monumental and North Fork Fires, and the experiences of employees involved with the fuel treatments and fire suppression activities on the Boise National Forest. In addition, we used information such as, but not limited to, fire progression maps, remote automated weather station (RAWS) data, and daily action plans associated with the Monumental and North Fork Fires. Given all of the factors that influence wildfire behavior and burn severity, the inferences we present are based on the most accurate, unbiased, and complete information available."
United States. Forest Service
Graham, Russell T.; Jain, Theresa B.; Loseke, Mark
2009-07
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Wildland Fire and Fuels Research and Development Strategic Plan: Meeting the Needs of the Present, Anticipating the Needs of the Future
"This document presents the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service Wildland Fire and Fuels Research and Development (R&D) Strategic Plan for the next 10 years (through 2015). The plan provides a framework to implement a national program of research and science application that aligns with and anticipates the needs of land managers and other clients and stakeholders. It recognizes the need to coordinate research activities with partners in other organizations and responds to fire and fuels management and research priorities identified in numerous reports. This plan takes an integrated and nationally coordinated approach to focus on the most important research needs by identifying priorities in three major strategic goal areas."
United States. Forest Service
2006
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Forest Service Strategic Framework for Responding to Climate Change [Verions 1.0]
"The Forest Service has a unique opportunity and responsibility to sustain forests and grasslands in the United States and internationally. This responsibility includes: 1) stewardship of 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands, 2) partnerships with States, Tribes, and private landowners for assisting communities and owners of 430 million acres of private and Tribal forests, and with other federal agencies, 3) international cooperation, 4) research and development to provide science and management tools. These responsibilities make it imperative that we understand and be able to respond to the effects of climate change on the Nation's forest and grassland resources. This document provides a strategic framework for the Forest Service to guide current and future actions to meet the challenge of climate change. It incorporates the actions included in Chief Gail Kimbell's letter to the National Leadership Council of February 15, 2008."
United States. Forest Service
2008-10-02
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Fire Effects on Tree Overstories in the Oak Savannas of the Southwestern Borderlands Region
"Effects of cool-season and warm-season prescribed burning treatments and a wildfire on tree overstories in oak savannas on the Cascabel Watersheds of the Southwestern Borderlands Region are reported in this paper. Information on the initial survival, levels of crown damage, species compositions and densities, annual growth rates, and basal sprouting following these burning events is presented. Impact of the fires on spatial distributions of trees in the overstories is also described. These events were all of low fire severities. As a consequence, effects of the prescribed burning treatments and the wildfire on tree overstories of the watersheds were similar and, therefore, the data sets were pooled. Effects of these fires on the tree overstories were mostly minor and often insignificant in terms of management implications."
United States. Forest Service
Ffolliott, Peter F.; Gottfried, Gerald J.; Stropki, Cody L.
2011-05
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Effects of Development of a Natural Gas Well and Associated Pipeline on the Natural and Scientific Resources of the Fernow Experimental Forest
"Development of a natural gas well and pipeline on the Fernow Experimental Forest, WV, was begun in 2007. Concerns were raised about the effects on the natural and scientific resources of the Fernow, set aside in 1934 for long-term research. A case study approach was used to evaluate effects of the development. This report includes results of monitoring projects as well as observations related to unexpected impacts on the resources of the Fernow. Two points are obvious: that some effects can be predicted and mitigated through cooperation between landowner and energy developer, and that unexpected impacts will occur. These unexpected impacts may be most problematic."
United States. Forest Service
Adams, Mary Beth; Edwards, Pamela J.; Ford, Mark W.
2011-01
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Fire Managers Field Guide: Hazardous Fuels Management in Subtropical Pine Flatwoods and Tropical Pine Rocklands
"This document, 'Fire Managers Field Guide: Hazardous Fuels Management in Subtropical Pine Flatwoods and Tropical Pine Rocklands,' is intended to provide an overview of current techniques and tactics for managing hazardous fuels in the tropical and subtropical pine forests of Florida, the Bahamas, and elsewhere in the Caribbean. The information presented here was distilled from peer-reviewed literature, technical reports, and the experiences of on-the-ground fire managers. Managing fuels is complex and site specific. This guide is intended to provide only a broad introduction to currently available techniques, some well known and others newer and untested. The goal is to give the fuel manager options and food for thought, not exact prescriptions for specific fuel problems. A fire manager must always acquire appropriate training and seek guidance from colleagues and experts before applying an unfamiliar treatment or experimenting with a new, untested combination of techniques."
United States. Forest Service
O'Brien, Joseph J.; Mordecai, Kathryn A.; Wolcott, Leslie
2010-07
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National Roadmap for Responding to Climate Change
"The mission of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. Americans rely on their forests and grasslands for a wide range of benefits--for provisioning services such as water, wood, and wild foods; for regulating services such as erosion, flood, and climate control; and for cultural services such as outdoor recreation, spiritual renewal, and aesthetic enjoyment. These services are connected and sustained through the integrity of the ecosystems on these lands. Climate change places those ecosystems at risk. Most of the urgent forest and grassland management challenges of the past 20 years, such as wildfires, changing water regimes, and expanding forest insect infestations, have been driven, in part, by a changing climate. Future impacts are projected to be even more severe. Managing America's forests and grasslands to adapt to changing climates will help ensure that they continue to produce the benefits that Americans need while helping to mitigate the effects of a changing climate and to compensate for fossil fuel emissions through carbon storage in healthy forests."
United States. Forest Service
2010-07
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Performance Scorecard for Implementing the Forest Service Climate Change Strategy
"The Climate Change Performance Scorecard is to be administered annually to each National Forest. The scorecard is a set of ten yes-or-no questions in four dimensions -- organizational capacity; partnerships and conservation education; adaptation; and mitigation. At least seven of the questions, with at least one in each dimension, must be answered yes each year to achieve compliance. The reply to each question will also contain evidentiary description of accomplishments and outcomes and/or plans for improvement toward a 'yes' answer. In 2010, the scorecard questions will be answered, but few if any forests are expected to be in compliance. Performance will be tracked and improved over the next five years. The national target is 100% compliance by 2015; individual forests and the national forests as an aggregate should show increasing scores yearly. Beyond compliance, the accompanying narratives provide an opportunity to demonstrate excellence."
United States. Forest Service
2010-07-09
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Towards a Collaborative Cost Management Strategy: 2006 U.S. Forest Service Large Wildfire Cost Review Recommendations
"The Panel was asked to focus on strategic decisions and actions, compliance with policy and law, and risk analysis and management. There were 20 such fires whose suppression cost approached $500 million in total, exclusive of burned area emergency rehabilitation costs and accounted for over 1.1 million burned acres. […]. A second purpose of the review was for the Panel to address cross-cutting cost management issues and potential strategies that could impact fire suppression costs at strategic levels. The panel acknowledged that current efforts by forests and their incident business advisors to ensure compliance with contracting and resource allocation procedures and to maintain a high level of fiscal vigilance for potential waste and abuse were important, but unlikely to affect spending levels by more than 10%. Four issue areas are addressed in the recommendations section that could, in the view of the Panel, potentially help contain suppression costs and future increases in wildfire costs at much higher levels. Recommendations are developed for: (1) Land Management and Resource Plans and Fire Management Plans as Strategic Frameworks for Managing Fire Suppression Investment (2) The Wildland Fire Situational Analysis and Delegation of Authority as Fire Suppression Management and Cost Factors (3) Incident Management Team Structure & Transitions As Fire Suppression Cost Factors (4) Formulating a New Collaborative Cost Management Strategy."
United States. Forest Service
Independent Large Wildfire Cost Panel
2007-05-15
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Nuttall Complex Fire Shelter Deployment Review: Factual Report and Management Evaluation Report
"In the dangerous business of wildland fire suppression, we call on fireline leaders to make the challenging decisions of providing for employee safety while taking appropriate suppression actions. The Nuttall Fire Shelter investigation finds that the firefighters relied on their experience and training to make good decisions. Strategy and tactics were guided by careful application of LCES (Lookouts, Communications, Escape Routes, and Safety Zones). While participants all felt they underestimated the potential fire behavior and had no way of anticipating a critical medical emergency, quality situational awareness and commitment to standard mitigations led to a positive outcome. The mitigations proved resilient. This was a big event-to the agency, to the firefighting community, and particularly to individuals involved. It is an opportunity to study and learn from a critical situation. This report will describe and document the relevant facts and recommend actions. These findings are largely positive and complimentary. The recommendations are neither career-ending nor policy-changing; however, particular findings will be of interest at all levels of the wildfire organization. This Investigation Team used the After Action Review / Lessons Learned format for interviews. The Nuttall Fire on the Safford Ranger District of the Coronado National Forest in Arizona was ignited by lightning on June 26, 2004 and escaped initial attack. A Southwest Area Incident Management Type 1 team assumed command on June 27, 2004. An indirect strategy along suitable ridges commenced, with a Firing Group assigned to 'bring the black' with the control line construction."
United States. Forest Service
2004-12-06
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Rising Cost of Fire Operations: Effects on the Forest Service's Non-Fire Work
"The increasing cost of fighting wildland fire has had a negative and lasting impact on the Forest Service's non-fire, mission critical activities. In particular, the growth in fire expenditures has resulted in two significant and negative impacts on the Forest Service budget: (1) fire borrowing; and (2) a long-term shift of agency resources to fire expenditures. With respect to borrowing, in years when the base appropriation for suppression is insufficient to cover the cost of fighting wildland fire, the agency has the authority to transfer (or 'borrow') funds from non-fire activities to suppression. However, those non-fire activities are often those that improve the health and resilience of our forested landscapes and thus mitigate the potential for fire in future years. These fire transfers, while they are generally reimbursed in subsequent appropriations, are highly disruptive to agency operations and hinder the Forest Service's capacity to effectively restore the Nation's forests and grasslands. Continued reliance on fire transfers to ensure sufficient funds for suppression within a highly constrained agency budget is unsustainable. The second impact of rising fire expenditures has been to slowly shift agency financial resources away from forest management and restoration, research, recreation and other mission-critical objectives and towards firefighting and other expenses related to fire management. A few weeks ago, the Forest Service released a report detailing the types of projects that are delayed or cancelled as a result of fire borrowing. This report details the long-term shift of agency resources into the fire program and away from other mission critical programs."
United States. Forest Service
2014-08
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Angora Fire - Entrapment & Fire Shelter Deployment Accident Prevention Analysis Report
"On June 26, 2007, two Forest Service firefighters assigned to the Angora Fire were entrapped by fire and forced into their fire shelters. Fortunately, they were uninjured. This report tells what happened and examines the social and organizational causes that led to this outcome. In conducting an investigation, the review team learned of another story-that of a nearcatastrophic tragedy for dozens of other firefighters who were within minutes of also being entrapped. Accidents and near misses such as this are proof of the high risks of wildland firefighting as well as proof that our firefighting organization could better manage these risks."
United States. Forest Service
2008-01-17
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Network-On-Wheels: Thin Client Networking Kits for Incident Management
This is a technology tip offered by the US Forest Service on thin client networking kits used in incident management - specifically in the fire service for fighting wildland fires.
United States. Forest Service
2009-04
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Fire Operations Risk Management: Hazard Tree Risks and Mitigations
"Many areas in of our nation's forests are experiencing declining forest health conditions causing extreme hazard tree dangers. Broken tops, widow-makers, and root rot in many tree species are contributing to elevated hazard levels. Beetle infestations, wind events and abundant moisture have led to the creation of abnormally high safety hazards which are difficult to mitigate. This Hazard Tree safety advisory is designed to raise awareness among firefighters and all field going employees of the increasing risks from falling tree hazards in forested lands across the United States. One way to deal with this type of risk is to avoid working in these high-risk areas. If any individual feels an assignment is unsafe they have the obligation to identify safer alternatives, if any, for completing the assignment. Employees are empowered to turn down an assignment if it is identified that the risks involved cannot be safely managed (reference Incident Response Pocket Guide, page 17). This advisory serves as a 'Heads Up' to firefighters and employees working in or mobilizing to forested regions that are especially affected by mountain pine beetles. Millions of acres in the western United States are plagued with dead or dying trees, most infected by insects. In Forest Service Regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, pine beetle infestations and snags are an ever-increasing hazard after years of drought, fire exclusion, and bug kill."
United States. Forest Service
2010-08-03?
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Fire Blow-Up Modeling: Implications for Situational Awareness & LCES
This PowerPoint presentation by Jo Ann Fites examines the fire-behavior behind forest fires blow-ups and its importance in lookouts, communication, escape routes, and safety zones (LCES), and fatalities. The slideshow utilizes different models and geographic information systems to better predict the behavior of wildfires.
United States. Forest Service
Fites-Kaufman, Jo Ann
2007-01-01?
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Southwest Geographic Area Safety Alert: US-Mexico Border Fire Operations Safety
This safety alert discusses firefighter and public safety, drug smuggling, illegal immigration and border safety information.
United States. Forest Service
2011-05-05
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Lessons Learned: Eagle Trail IHC Saw Accident
This document provides a summary of the Eagle Trail IHC (Interagency Hotshot Crew) Saw accident, contributing factors, and recommendations to improve in the future.
United States. Forest Service
2010-06
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Shoshone National Forest Fire Management Plan
From the Introduction: "The Shoshone National Forest developed this fire management plan (FMP) as a decision support tool to help fire personnel and decision makers determine the appropriate management response to unplanned ignitions. Fire management plans do not make decisions. Instead, they provide information, organized by fire management units (FMUs), which provide a finer scale summarization of information than is possible at the forest level. These descriptions bring specific detail about the identifiable areas on the ground. FMPs are not static documents. They will evolve and be revised as conditions change on the ground and as modifications are made to the unit's LRMP [Land and Resource Management Plan]."
United States. Forest Service
2012-04-16?
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Trail Peak Fire: Firefighter Exhaustion/Electrolyte Imbalance - July 25, 2010, Facilitated Learning Analysis
"The Trail Peak Fire was a lightning caused fire reported on the evening of July 24, 2010 and was contained and controlled at 1803 hours on July 25, 2010. On July 25, 2010, at approximately 2015, a Firefighter was incapacitated due to over exertion and an electrolyte imbalance, causing severe cramping of the legs, mild vision and disorientation problems, during initial response of the Trail Peak Fire on the Pine Valley Ranger District of the Dixie National Forest. At approximately 0930 that morning, three firefighters began hiking into the Pine Valley Wilderness area searching for wildfire that had been spotted the previous evening and confirmed the following morning. The first 1.5 miles of their hike was on a rocky overgrown trail with a gain in elevation of approximately 400 feet. At 1130, the crew left the trail trying to gain a visual of the fire. The terrain was very steep, rocky, with mixed conifer and a heavy understory of brush. When the crew reached the ridge at 1330, one firefighter left the others and spent the next 2 ½ hours trying to scout a better vantage point of the fire. The fire was finally located and the crew joined the one firefighter to control it over the next 2 hours."
United States. Forest Service
2010-09-01?
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Forest Service Info Bulletin 2010-02 - Lat-Long Info for GPS Navigation
Regions should remind all pilots that lat/long coordinates may be communicated to, them in several formats. It is the pilot's responsibility to confirm whether coordinates contain degrees,, minutes, seconds or degrees, minutes and tenths and to assure that they are using information that matches, their aircraft GPS navigation setting. Please Note: This record has been imported to the HSDL as part of the LLIS Consolidation project and has not yet been reviewed by HSDL staff. Some information may be incomplete, missing, or inaccurate. For more information on the LLIS Consolidation project, please see here: [http://www.hsdl.org/?llis]
United States. Forest Service
2010-06-25?
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Facilitated Learning Analysis: Implementation Guide
This document provides material for businesses and organizations on how to create facilitated learning analysis after a wildfire incident.
United States. Forest Service
2010-08
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Fire, Fuel Treatments, and Ecological Restoration: Conference Proceedings, April 16-18, 2002, Fort Collins, CO
"Recent fires have spawned intense interest in fuel treatment and ecological restoration activities. Scientists and land managers have been advocating these activities for years, and the recent fires have provided incentives for federal, state, and local entities to move ahead with ambitious hazard reduction and restoration projects. Recent fires also have increased public awareness about the risks and hazards of living in wild areas. The scientific basis for ecological restoration and fuel treatment activities is growing, but remains largely unsubstantiated, with isolated exceptions. Over 300 participants from all over the United States convened in Ft. Collins, Colorado, to learn from 90 oral and poster presentations."
United States. Forest Service
2003-06
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Organizational Learning: "Lessons Learned" Analysis Options
This document reviews the U.S. Forest Service's authorized process to draft lessons learned reports.
United States. Forest Service
2010-08
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Wildland Fire Behavior Case Studies and Analyses: Value, Approaches, and Practical Uses
This article is from an issue of Fire Management Today that contains a series of articles involving fire behavior case studies and analyses of wildfires. This article discusses the general value of case studies, different research approaches, and the pragmatic and safety value of case study knowledge.
United States. Forest Service
Alexander, Marty; Thomas, Dave
2003
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Reducing the Wildland Fire Threat to Homes: Where and How Much?
"Understanding how ignitions occur is critical for effectively mitigating home fire losses during wildland fires. The threat of life and property losses during wildland fires is a significant issue for Federal, State, and local agencies that have responsibilities involving homes within and adjacent to wildlands. Agencies have shifted attention to communities adjacent to wildlands through pre-suppression and suppression activities. Research for the Structure Ignition Assessment Model (SIAM) that includes modeling, experiments, and case studies indicates that effective residential fire loss mitigation must focus on the home and its immediate surroundings. This has significant implications far agency policy and specific activities such as hazard mapping and fuel management."
United States. Forest Service
Cohen, Jack D.
1999
