FIRE (Management) !

1. FIRE (Management)! By: Bradley Ellis Alexandra Mouche Patrick Noonan Joel Singley

2. History of Forest Fires in The United States : Fire as a tool • Forest and rangeland fire was once a common land management tool. Native Americans as well as early settlers and prospectors used fire for various purposes. But as the country gradually filled with more settlers, and as forest resources became more precious, fire began to be viewed as more of a problem than a tool.

3. History of Politics • Responsibility of Dept of Interior and U.S. Army • 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt transferred responsibility for wildfire suppression to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Forestry, which soon became the U.S. Forest Service, headed by his friend Gifford Pinchot. • Watershed protection and timber supply a main concern

4. History of Acts and Policy • 1911 - The Weeks Act • 1924 - Clarke-McNary Act • 1933 – The New Deal • 1935 - The 10 AM policy • 1960 - Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act • 1964 - Wilderness Act • 1970 - National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) • 1971 - 10 AM policy amended • 1972 - Wilderness Prescribed Natural Fire Program • 1978 -10 AM policy scrapped and eliminated emergency funding f • 1979 - National Fire Management Analysis System (NFMAS) • 1995 - Federal Wild land Fire Management Policy • 2002 - National Fire Plan • 2003 - Healthy Forest Restoration Act

5. Social landscape • Perception and Government responsibility • Current status • Community movements • Adoption of Community Wildfire Protection Plan • Risk: • Serious; Certain; Soon • Key Players in the social realm • Constraints? • Credibility and Capacity? • The Limiting Factor?

6. Current Fire Policy • The National Fire Plan • Developed in 2000 following a “landmark” season • Design with the “intent of actively responding to severe wildland fires and their impacts to communities while ensuring sufficient firefighting capacity for the future” • Departure from historical management practices • Increased understanding of ecology • Feedback on the results of policy decisions • Changing perceptions of fire

7. The National Fire Plan • Primarily: USDA Forest Service and Department of Interior • Five Key Points • Firefighting • Rehabilitation • Community Assistance • Accountability • Hazardous Fuels Reduction • Implementation • Provides technology, funding, guidance, and coordination • National resources and personnel • Multi-level involvement and responsibility • Policy is proactive and reactive • Intensive monitoring program

8. Healthy Forests Initiative • Launched in August 2000 • Could cover about 20,000,000 acres • To protect against unnaturally destructive fires • Supposed to speed up hazardous fuels reduction and improve quality public lands (read: reduced paperwork) • Ten to fifteen page limit each EIS • Increased exclusion guidelines • Decentralized oversight • “Preemptive” • Encourages research and early public input

9. An Insider’s Perspective • Dan Smith • National Fire Director for the National Association of State Foresters (NASF) and representative to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) • NASF • Protection and management of private and state forests • Cross sector coordination and representation • Resource (education, policy, advocacy, etc) • NIFC • Improved Response through communication and resource sharing • Daily monitoring and adaptation • Federal resource management

10. An Insider’s Perspective (cont.) • Working within the National Fire Plan • Responsibility and resource sharing • Hierarchies of representation • Current Problems and Contradictions • Protection through budget cuts (58%) • Increasing wildland-urban interface demands on agencies • Barriers to fuel mitigation (NEPA) • Environmental quality continues to decline

11. From Scientists… • Provide an unbiased scientific analysis based on research and professional experience • Investigate the methodologies, findings, and conclusions provided by researchers • Provide a range of alternatives, convey risks and uncertainties, and recommendations to decision makers

12. To the Decision Makers • Utilize the scientists information: • Many disciplines: wildlife, soils, hydrology, silviculturists, fisheries, social scientists and economists • Determine the trade-offs • Make the decision

13. Bridging the Gap • “Effective partnerships occur when direct interaction takes place between people at multiple stages, adequate time is allowed for partnership building, partners are rewarded and held accountable for their roles, and when dedicated individuals are identified and cultivated.”-Seth M. White

14. Interview with Silviculturist at Clearwater National Forest • Vegetation Restoration/Management, Silviculture • Single largest obstacle facing fire management in the future is the wildland/urban interface and lack of funding to treat fuels in these areas • “Policies need to be flexible and adaptable. What was successful in the past may not be in the future. I think policies should not prescribe a "one size fits all approach" as ecosystems are varied across the nation. Adaptive and active management will maintain our ability to deal with uncertainty into the future” -Beverly Yelczyn

15. San Diego 2007 • Of the major wildfires in October of 2007, the two largest were in San Diego • Witch Creek burned North and Northeast of San Diego • Harris burned northwest from the Mexico border towards San Diego • Hundreds of thousands were subject to mixed responses, including mandatory and voluntary evacuation notices • By October, more people had been evacutated in SD County than had been in Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina

18. San Diego 2007 • After only two days, almost 500,000 people were evacuated from their homes under mandatory orders • Many Businesses and all local schools and colleges closed down during the fire • The mayor asked residents to stay in their homes to keep the roads clear for emergency vehicles • Many roads were closed due to impassability from smoke and fire

19. San Diego Response • Government and volunteer agencies worked together • FEMA organized the disbursement of relief supplies to victims • Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT teams) got their first activation since inception of the program in 1987 • The Department of Defense mobilized the National Guard, Marines, and NAVY to assist in containing the fires • Governor Schwarzenegger called upon the Blue Ribbon Task Force, generated after 2003 fires, to reassess policy needs for the prevention of future disasters

20. Legal Outlook • The fires are increasing insurance and consulting business • There seems to be little legal input into the fire policy after the Governator’s Blue Ribbon Task Force • Fires have been profitable, in a sense, but they have also forced firms to close for days at a time when the fires are out of control