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| BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
U.S. FOREST SERVICE
JULY · 1999
Contents I. Purpose and Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 2
II. Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 5
III. Current Situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 7
IV. Six Strategies for Increasing Accomplishments . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . Page 11
1. Define, plan and develop Hazardous Fuels Treatments (HFT) unitand sub-geographic strategies and projects within the context ofecosystem health and restoration.
2. Coordinate planning, fuels treatment, and smoke managementactivities on geographic and sub-geographic levels.
3. Develop education plans and marketing strategies to increaseawareness and the need for HFT with internal and externalpublics.
4. Refine the process for most efficiently allocating HFT funds.
5. Increase the skills, knowledge, and capabilities of theworkforce for the future.
6. Monitor HFT accomplishments against defined goals at alllevels.
V. National Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 20
VI. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 21
I Purpose and Goals
Guiding Theme The purpose of Hazardous Fuels Treatments (HFT) funding for Bureauof Land Management and Forest Service lands is long-term investmentin actions that will reduce risk and damages from wildfire andimprove ecosystem health.
HFT require coordination between resource and fire managementspecialists because of the direct affects on several resource areas,protection agencies, and ecological processes.
This report provides a plan that is consistent with the abovetheme for increasing HFT accomplishments on Forest Service and Bureauof Land Management lands within the Pacific Northwest.
The strategy outlined in this report:
1. Ensures effective and efficient treatments are applied thatmeet local and National goals.
2. Guides integration of HFT planning and implementation withecosystem health efforts.
3. Provides guidance to field units on developing strategies.
Specifically, this report outlines six strategies involvingspecific action items that need to occur to increase hazardous fuelsaccomplishments. These strategies also address the followingshort-term goals. Short Term Goals
Because it is not yet known how much treatment is possible ordesirable, the following are short-term goals for each sub-geographicarea through 2003. These estimated goals are based on need fortreatment and unit capability.
· The combined Bureau of Land Management and Forest Servicetreatment accomplishments for HFT totals 300,000 acres annually.These acres are a mix of maintenance, restoration, and conversiontreatments.
· All units have developed local strategies for increasing HFT.These strategies are integrated across agency boundaries.
· Overall program costs are within estimated economic efficiencylimits.
· Fuel treatments are integrated with all ecosystem health andrestoration efforts.
· The public and agency personnel are supportive of HFT.
· Fuel treatments are applied safely and effectively.
· Funding processes are consistent with interagencysub-geographic needs.
· Reporting requirements are consistent between agencies.
II Background
Fuel conditions in many areas of the Pacific Northwest arebecoming increasingly hazardous. This condition results in larger andmore severe wildfires, especially within ecosystems in which frequentfire has been excluded.
Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy
This situation was addressed nationally in the 1995 FederalWildland Fire Management Policy and Program Review (signed by thesecretaries of Agriculture and Interior). This policy directs federalwildland fire agencies to achieve a balance between fire suppressionand fuels management to sustain healthy ecosystems.
It is important to view this Policy as a long-term change inapproach toward managing fire. Previous policies emphasized firesuppression, while current policies emphasize fuels management as apart of ecosystem management.
The Policy identifies "Nine Guiding Principles". Three of theseprinciples are fundamental to the success of increasing hazardousfuels reduction in the Pacific Northwest:
· Increase firefighter and public safety. · Reduce large fire suppression cost. · Recognize the role of wildland fire as an essential ecologicalprocess.
Congressional Intent and Agency Direction
Congressional budget language in FY99 provides three nationalgoals for HFT:
1. Improving fire fighter and public safety. 2. Reducing costs and damages from wildfire. 3. Increasing ecosystem health.
FS and BLM FY99 budget direction are:
Forest Service:
· Protection of interface areas, especially in short-intervalfire regimes. · Encourage treatments in and adjacent to wilderness thatfacilitate wildland fire use. · Restore and maintain fire-adapted ecosystems to reduce longrange fire suppression costs.
Bureau of Land Management:
· Reduce risks and damages from wildland fire. · Improve ecosystem health.
The two agencies differ slightly in interpretation ofcongressional intent. In addition to the emphasis on human safety,the FS emphasizes fire hazard reduction, while the BLM emphasizesecosystem restoration and health. While individual projects canaccomplish both goals, when setting priorities, these two goals mayconflict. An example of this is the juniper woodland. At later seralstages, fire hazard can be less of a threat than at earlier seralstages, however these later seral stages are a very significantecosystem health problem. The intent of this strategy is to integrateboth goals within agency and unit capability to accomplishtreatments.
Hazardous Fuels Reduction Funding
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) hazardous fuels reduction(HFT) funding began in 1998. Forest Service (FS) HFT funding evolvedfrom a "backlog" activity fuels reduction program in the early 1980s.Currently, activity (harvest) slash treatment is declining in thePacific Northwest. HFT are expected to increase for both agenciesover the next several years.
III Current Situation
The BLM and NFS lands comprise 40.8 million acres within thePacific Northwest. The administrative units may be combined into sixsub-geographic areas:
Sub-geographic Area Included Forests Included BLM Districts Western Washington OLY, MBS, GP Eastern Washington COL, OKA, WEN SPD Northwest Oregon MTH, WIL, SIU, CRGNSA SAD, EUD Southwest Oregon ROR, SIS, UMP COD, ROD, MED Southeast Oregon FRE, WIN LAD Northeast Oregon WAW, UMA, MAL VAD, BUD Central Oregon OCH, DES PRD
Ecosystem Health
Today, due to past land uses and management activities, more acresare susceptible to large damaging wildfires. Many of these acres canbe classified as "short-interval fire regimes." Because of pastattempts at fire exclusion and management activities, these areas areusually more out of balance with disturbance patterns such as fire.In longer interval fire regimes, today more acres are moresusceptible to fire damage than in the past.
The chart below illustrates that 22.4 million acres (55%) of shortinterval fire regimes existed historically in the PNW. The non-lethalseverity acres represent mostly forested early seral vegetation types(such as ponderosa pine), while the stand replacement severity acresrepresent mostly sage-grassland communities.
Assuming these acres would need to be restored or maintained on a25-year interval, 368 thousand acres of forested land and 588thousand acres of sage-grassland would need treatment annually. Theseacres probably represent the maximum, as past management activitiesand land management objectives and constraints would reduce the totaltreatment needs. Relatively most of these acres are in easternOregon.
In a biological sense, it is not known how many acres arecurrently within a "properly functioning condition". As societaldemands change, what we expect from the land changes. Ultimately,land use decisions must be determined through Forest and ResourceManagement Plans.
Fire Hazard Reduction
Wildland fire hazard reduction is a combination of hazard, riskand values at risk. Wildland fire has burned an average of 200,000acres per year over the last 10 years in the Pacific Northwest. Mostof these acres and costs have occurred in Northeast Oregon. Forcomparison purposes, an average of 166,000 acres per year ofhazardous fuels and activity fuels treatments has occurred over thissame time period.
Southeast Oregon has a 20-year history of prescribed burning innatural fuels. More acres have been prescribed burned here in thelast 10 years than have burned in wildland fire.
IV Six Strategies for Increasing HFT Accomplishments
1. Strategy #1 -- Define, plan and develop HFT unit andsub-geographic strategies and projects within the context ofecosystem health and restoration.
Strategies to increase HFT should be developed by each unit orsub-geographic area at the landscape scale in an interdisciplinaryenvironment. They should include cooperators and external publicswhere possible. Strategies should also consider social, biological,and economic factors. Fuel treatment priorities should be developedover time and space, and consider such elements as historic fireregimes, urban interface, key watersheds and winter range, unitcosts, risks, and tradeoffs. A communications plan should be a keyingredient.
Fuels projects must be integrated with other resources early inthe planning process. Fuels management is one part of the overallgoal of ecosystem restoration. Objectives should be developed jointlywith other resources and consider the long-term consequences of noaction.
The opportunity for greatest success lies in the union of thesocial, biological, and economic factors through integrated landscapeplanning and priority setting. Social factors include: forest health,smoke, risk of escape, damage to commodity interests, wildernessvalues, cultural resources, and visual concerns. Biologicconsiderations include resource objectives, season of burn, fuelreduction, snag and large woody retention, winter range requirements,and threatened and endangered species concerns. Economic concernsinclude reducing large fire suppression costs, determiningcost/benefits, and consideration of larger landscape treatments toreduce unit costs.
Ultimately, land and resource management plans will determine thedesired levels of fuel treatments. In land and resource managementplans, units will eventually develop landscape scale mixes of desiredvegetation seral and structure stages over time. These decisionswill allow fuel treatment plans to help accomplish these goals. Inthe interim, unit strategies should estimate fuel treatment levels bya tiered approach:
Þ Determine the gross hazard reduction and ecologicaltreatment needs (acres).
Þ Modify needs based on management objectives.
Þ Modify management objective acres based on social,political, and management constraints.
Because a large number of fuels treatment projects are actuallyaccomplished by a series of linked treatments, coordination withother functions is necessary. Stewardship contracting and newprocesses for utilization and marketing of small diameter and lowvalue trees needs to occur. Commitment of line officers at all levelsmust also occur.
Actions Responsibility Develop unit strategies for increasing HFT accomplishments. Unitor sub-geographic area/SORO staff Hold biannual conference including other resource areas. NWFC Site visits with other resource specialists. SORO staff Develop geographic fire hazard, risk, and values at riskmaps. SORO staff Support stewardship contracting efforts. Units and SORO staff Participate in small tree utilization projects. NWFC Gain Line Officer commitment at all levels. FMO's and SOROstaff
2. Strategy #2 -- Coordinate planning, fuels treatment, and smokemanagement activities on geographic and sub-geographic levels.
In the past, most fuels management activities occurred onindividual units independently. Geographic coordination of fuelsactivities must increase. Consistent planning processes, resourcecoordination, and activity reporting, needs to occur on a geographicbasis. Resource sharing to mobilize for windows of opportunity mustoccur. As prescribed burning increases, geographic and sub-geographiclevel contingency planning must be coordinated. To do this, theconcept of accountability for dollars spent must be broadened.
Effective fuels treatment must be coordinated across agencyboundaries. Six sub-geographic units have been identified. Unitsshould work together to plan and implement projects. Smoke managementis an area in which coordination across agency boundaries must alsooccur. Sub-geographic areas should work with air regulators indeveloping processes for coordination. (Northeast Oregon has a goodmodel for this.)
There is a need to continue the smoke management modeling efforts,especially the trade-offs between wildfire and prescribed fire smoke.Fire Effects Tradeoff Model (FETM) development should move forward.The long-term goal is to reduce the combined emissions of wildfireand prescribed fire smoke emissions.
Actions Responsibility Continue to strengthen the role of NWFC. NWFC/FMO's Develop and facilitate fuels activity reportinggeographically. NWFC Explore ways to allow flexibility in accountabilityreporting. NWFC Establish communication links between units in sub-geographicareas. Sub-geographic Areas Support development of FETM. SORO staff Develop geographic contingency plans. NWFC with NWICC Continue teaching RX-450, Smoke Management. SORO staff Implement FASTRACS. SORO staff and NWFC
3. Strategy #3 -- Develop education plans and marketing strategiesto increase awareness and the need for HFT with internal and externalpublics.
The 1995 Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy makes significantchanges to fire management. Agency personnel and the public mustunderstand the need for HFT and the consequences of no action. Aclear and concise message on the purposes of HFT within the contextof ecosystem restoration goals is needed.
This message must be aggressively communicated to both internaland external publics at all levels. If it is not, inconsistencies,duplication of effort, and a lack of support could result.
Messages need to convey the purposes, costs, and effects ofincreasing HFT projects. Coordinated education efforts are needed atthe national, geographic, and sub-geographic levels. Messages needto be simple, clear, and understood by all agency staff so they canbe communicated to the public. Example messages include:
· There are choices and consequences of various hazardous fueltreatments. · There are consequences of no action. · Our goals for total smoke emissions from wildland andprescribed fire is no net increase over time. · The magnitude of the problem is large, and will take years toremedy. · Treatments must be done on a landscape scale or they will havelittle effect. · Hazardous fuels reduction is but a part of the total ecosystemhealth strategy.
Actions Responsibility Develop a geographic communications and marketing plan. SOROstaff Develop communications products for sub-geographic use. SOROstaff
4. Strategy #4&endash; Refine the process for most efficientlyallocating HFT funds.
Past fund allocation processes have been based on unit requests,ability to accomplish, unit costs, and perceived need to reducehazardous fuels. As funding increases, the need to effectively spenddollars for maximum results increases. Treatments that maximize fuelsreduction (loading and arrangement) over the most acres at theminimum cost for the longest term are the most efficient.
The tools to compare treatment efficiency are not well developedto include non-tangible ecosystem restoration concerns. Where tospend the next dollar is no simple dilemma. Economic models (such asFORBS) will assist in answering the economic part of the equation.Even so, the social and biologic considerations remain.
Fuel treatments will vary by historic fire regime, length of timesince disturbance, and management objectives. Three condition classesare useful for defining treatment needs and intensities:
Maintenance
· Vegetation is in a condition resembling the historic fireregime, or in a condition that meets or exceeds the minimumrequirements to withstand damage from a wildfire. · Treatments follow restoration and conversion treatments atprescribed intervals. · Prescribed fire is the primary management tool.
Restoration
· Vegetation is at least one step departure from historic fireregime. · Multiple prescribed fire entries or mechanical treatments arerequired to restore vegetation to maintenance condition.
Conversion
· Vegetation is two or more step departure from historic fireregime. · Mechanical treatment is necessary prior to prescribed fireuse.
Because it is not known how many Pacific Northwest acres arecurrently within these three condition classes, the magnitude andspatial arrangement of the "fuels problem" is not preciselyknown.
Consistent program levels are important for managers to plan forthe resources needed to accomplish projects, as well as to buildcredibility with local publics and partners. Treatment costs willvary widely, depending on treatment intensity, site conditions, unitsize, and whether fire hazard or ecosystem restoration goals areemphasized. Fixed unit costs are highly variable across thegeographic area, and can affect the ability to compete on a unit-costbasis. The following HFT funding priorities likely represent the bestinvestments:
· Maintenance, restoration, and conversion treatments ininterface areas where partnerships have been developed.
· Relatively low cost-maintenance treatments in short fireinterval ecosystems that will prevent a future need for more costlyrestoration treatments.
· Restoration treatments in short fire interval ecosystems thatcan be maintained in the future.
Conceptually, a unit base program would consist of fundingrequired to do the planning and accomplish the maintenance of currentacres of short interval fire regime types that will convert to longerand more severe fire regime types with no treatment. As more acresare restored or converted to maintenance acres, a unit's base programwould increase. Overall unit costs will likely increase over theshort term, as more restoration and conversion acres are undertaken. Longer term, unit costs should decrease as the ratio of maintenanceacres to restoration/conversion acres increases.
Concepts to use for choosing treatment priorities at the Unitlevel:
· Maintenance treatments before restoration treatments.
· Low controversy before high controversy.
· Projects with partnerships developed.
· Urban Interface areas with partnerships.
· Short fire interval types before long fire interval types.
· Mechanical treatments before prescribed fire.
· Multiple objective treatments before single objectivetreatments.
· In or adjacent to wildland fire use area.
All units need to understand the rationale for allocating HFTfunds. A Budget Advisory Group (BAG) has been established with amember from each sub-geographic area. This group meets annually todefine the criteria for allocating HFT dollars to the units. Fundswill be allocated proportional to the fire hazard reduction andecosystem health needs, and the unit's capability to accomplish fuelstreatments. It is the responsibility of the unit and sub-geographicareas to fund specific projects, based on priorities outlined in thisstrategy. The 2000 funding will be divided proportionally,considering the following factors:
· Percent of total FS/BLM acres in historic fire regime classes 1and 2 (short interval). · Percent of number of ignitions per acre in fire season. · Outyear requests from units. In the future, BLM units will useFS outyear request process.
Measuring accomplishment by acres alone does not adequatelyreflect ecosystem health and HFT goals. A more suitable measure thatis outcome based has not been developed. Measures that reflect thethree goals of increasing safety, reducing suppression costs, andincreasing ecosystem health need to be developed. Until then,adaptive management principles should be used.
Actions Responsibility Refine criteria and process for allocating HFT funds. NWFC Develop consistent data reporting processes. NWFC and SOROstaff Facilitate sub-geographic sharing of targets andaccomplishments. Sub-geographic areas
5. Strategy #5 -- Increase the skills, knowledge, and capabilitiesof the workforce for the future.
How fire management concerns are integrated into the next round ofland management planning is vital to long-term viability of HFT.Increased planning skills will be needed. Current NEPA planningskills for HFT are estimated to be half of what is necessary to meetfuture needs. Air quality, smoke management, current laws, andincreased planning requirements of ICBEMP (Interior Columbia RiverBasin Ecosystem Management Project) and the Northwest Forest Planwill require increased numbers of skilled fuels planners.Furthermore, fuels planners will need a broad educational backgroundin ecology and related sciences.
Even with increased operational efficiencies -- such as treatinglarger blocks, aerial ignitions, and greater mobility -- it isestimated that current workforce levels are close to maximumaccomplishment levels. Contracting will certainly be needed, but askilled cadre of prescribed fire practitioners will also berequired.
With increasing project sizes using different ignition methodscomes increasing safety concerns for practitioners and the public.The key to safe operations is recognizing the problems in the"incubation" period, that is, while the problem is occurring, butbefore a tragic outcome. Looking at past accidents or disasters mayprovide insight to future safe operations.
Prescribed fire projects are typically conducted on the shouldersof the traditional fire season, especially in forested ecosystems. To increase accomplishments and reduce impacts to other resources,more prescribed fire will need to occur whenever prescription windowsoccur, even if these are within the traditional fire season.Processes are in development to prioritize these activities withsuppression and wildland fire use activities.
As prescribed fire increases, so do the risks of escape. The goalis no escaped prescribed fires. As levels of prescribed increases, sodoes the demand for contingency resources. Interagency contingencyplans and processes need to be developed at the Geographic andSub-geographic levels to allow for increased activity during theshoulders of the traditional fire season.
Reintroduction of fire into fire dependent ecosystems is anecosystem health objective. Therefore, other resource people shouldbe participants in accomplishing objectives. Fuels managers and lineofficers need to enlist and encourage their participation.
Technological advances in information sharing and displaying areincreasing at a geometric rate. Using current technology to maximumadvantage will require different skills than traditionally required. GIS and Web technologies are two areas that need increased attentionin fuels management.
Actions Responsibility Increase the number of professionally trained people in firemanagement. FMO group Develop a fuels planning curricula. PNWCG Prescribed Fire andFuels Working Team Sponsor non-fire people for fire ecology training. Increasenon-fire participation. Line Officers and FMO group Develop contingency planning processes at the geographic andsub-geographic levels. NWFC Facilitate increasing mobility. NWFC Assess operational workforce needs for the future, includingcontracting. NWFC Expand the Redmond Detail Crew to include prescribed firetraining. RAC with SORO group Obtain necessary skills to support field use of Web and GISuses. SORO group Encourage technology advances and technology transfer. NWFC andSORO group Assess need for additional safety training for new ignitionmethods. NWFC Consider adding prescribed fire case studies to refreshertraining. NWFC with Training Working Team and Operations WorkingTeam.
6. Strategy #6 -- Monitor HFT accomplishments against definedgoals at all levels.
HFT is a part of a long-term strategy for ecosystem health.Treatment intensities, methods, and schedules will change asscientific knowledge and social preferences change.
Good data will provide the basis for effective long-termmonitoring. Implementing FASTRACS (a computer program to manage fuelsprojects and report smoke) will provide consistent data betweenagencies.
Ultimately, HFT success will be measured over the long term.However, it is important to establish short-term goals&endash; andplan to achieve them and be held accountable for them. While healthyecosystems are the desired outcome, this will be difficult tomeasure. It will take decades to establish meaningful trends inincreased firefighter and public safety, less property damage, andlower suppression costs.
To establish data trends for the future, the following databasesshould be developed locally:
· Spatial inventory of HFT by year and method.
· Fire occurrence map&endash; NFMAS.
· Large-fire perimeter map.
· Historic fire regime map, and departure from historiccondition.
· Fire behavior fuel model map.
· Map of adjacent property values.
While some of these data have been developed, consistency amongunits will need to be established. Some data (such as fuel model map)are important for all aspects of the fire management program andshould therefore be a high priority, especially for units proposingto use wildland fire for resource benefits.
Actions Responsibility Establish consistent rules for accomplishment tracking inFASTRACS. NWFC Establish a Geographic Area-wide effectiveness monitoringprocess. NWFC Establish baseline smoke emission levels by sub-geographicarea. SORO group/NWFC Establish geographic area data standards. Establish processes forresolving adjacent unit differences. NWFC
V. National Level Recommendations
A number of issues exist that cannot be resolved at the geographicarea level alone. Following are recommendations that the PNW thinksshould be addressed at the national level: · Agency goals for HFT funding should be similar.
· Accomplishment reporting processes need to be similar amongagencies so data are comparable.
· Smoke management needs to be coordinated between states.
· An aggressive, interagency, national public education programthat addresses the benefits of prescribed fire and fuels treatmentneeds to be developed.
· Allocate multi-year funds for HFT.
· Develop a funding process that is responsive to the three basicprinciples of increasing safety, reducing suppression costs anddamages, and recognizing the ecological role of fire.
Acknowledgements
On June 13-14, 1998 the following people met to initially scopeand provide direction to development of this document:
Mark Beighley, FAM, SORO Phil Matson, Strategic Planning, RO Margaret Petersen, Natural Resources, RO Leo Sidebotham, FAM, SORO Dewey Tate, FAM, SORO Laurie Perrett, FAM, SORO Peter Teensma, FAM, SORO Ron Escano, Natural Resources, RO Tim Rich, FAM, SORO Paul Keller, Writer/Editor, SORO
The members of this group also provided reviews. They deservethanks and appreciation for their time in assisting with thistask.
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