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English > Preventing Fires > Fire Policy
Fighting wildfires has changed drastically in the past century; forests are much better understood now, there are more homes in wildland/urban interface areas, and firefighters now have a much better understanding of wildfires and better equipment to fight them with.
Recognizing these changes, and prompted by the 1994 wildfire season, the first comprehensive fire management policy was created in 1995 for both the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture. This policy was revised after the Cerro Grande Fire in 2000.
The 1995 changes involved several major government agencies (including the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs). These agencies made important changes to the old fire management policy. Some of the key changes made in 1995 are (from the USFS Website):
- Protection of human life is the first priority in wildland fire management. Once firefighters are committed to an incident, they are the number one priority. Property and resource values are the second priority, with management decisions based on values to be protected.
- Protection of human life is the first priority in wildland fire management. Once firefighters are committed to an incident, they are the number one priority. Property and resource values are the second priority, with management decisions based on values to be protected.
- The role of federal agencies in the wildland/urban interface includes wildland firefighting, hazard fuels reduction, cooperative prevention and education, and technical assistance. Primary responsibility rests at the state and local levels.
- The Western Governors' Association will serve as a catalyst to involve state and local agencies and private stakeholders in achieving a cooperative approach to fire prevention and protection in the wildland/urban interface.
- Wildland fire, as a critical natural process, must be reintroduced into the ecosystem. Fire will be allowed to function as nearly as possible in its natural role to achieve the long-term goals of ecosystem health.
- Wildland fire management decisions and resource management decisions go hand in hand and are based on approved Fire Management and land and resource management plans. Fire managers also have the ability to choose from the full spectrum of fire management options, from prompt suppression to allowing fire to function in its natural ecological role.
- Structural fire protection in the wildland/urban interface is the responsibility of tribal, state, and local governments.
- Federal agencies must place more emphasis on educating internal and external audiences about how and why we use and manage wildland fire.
Following the Cerro Grande Fire in 2000, the Interagency Federal Wildland Fire Policy Review Working Group was created to review the fire management policy created in 1995 (see above) and its implications. The following is a summary of their findings (from the NIFC's Review and Update of the 1995):
- The 1995 Federal Fire Policy is still generally sound and appropriate.
- As a result of fire exclusion, the condition of fire-adapted ecosystems continues to deteriorate; the fire hazard situation in these areas is worse than previously understood.
- The fire hazard situation in the Wildland Urban Interface is more complex and extensive than understood in 1995.
- Changes and additions to the 1995 Federal Fire Policy are needed to address important issues of ecosystem sustainability, science, education, communication, and to provide for adequate program evaluation.
- Implementation of the 1995 Federal Fire Policy has been incomplete, particularly in the quality of planning and in interagency and interdisciplinary matters.
- Emphasis on program management, implementation, oversight, leadership, and evaluation at senior levels of all federal agencies is critical for successful implementation of the 2001 Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy (2001 Federal Fire Policy).
© ThinkQuest Team C0119184 :: Credits & Sources
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