- Author
- Wildland Fire Leadership Council
- Title
- Large Fire Suppression Costs: Strategies for Cost Management. A Report to The Wildland Fire Leadership Council From the Strategic Issues Panel on Fire Suppression Costs.
- Keywords
- fire suppression | costs | wildland fires | methodology | management systems | fire fighting | climate | fuels | planning | fire data | effectiveness
- Identifiers
- Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC); increasing wildland fire suppression expenditures; increasing acres burned from wildfire; barriers and obstacles to cost management; leadership, commitment and accountability; F/LMP and Fire Management Plan (FMP) relationships; sustaining initial and extended attack capability (drawdown); initial attack and extended attack response; landscape fuels management for public, tribal and private lands; fire cost data management needs; cost management metrics
- Abstract
- In response to widespread perceptions by Congress, agencies, and the public that fire suppression costs have escalated to an unreasonable level, the Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC) chartered the Strategic Issues Panel on Fire Suppression Costs. A diverse group of senior level managers and administrators from federal, state, and local governments studied the last five years of fire cost reports and analyzed more than 300 past recommendations. The Panel also interviewed a wide variety of individuals including researchers, special interest group representatives, fire managers and other government officials to better understand the dimensions of the issues and then develop substantive actions to meet the intent of the Panel's charter. Fuels and demographic trends affect wildland fire costs to be sure. But most significantly, it is absolutely critical to understand that if the climate prognosis is correct, the prevailing climatic conditions for the next 20-30 years may well negate any marginal gains in cost management. The catastrophic fires that have occurred in the past five years provide a sobering look at the impacts on public health and safety. Jobs have been lost, businesses and schools were interrupted, infrastructure and environmental damages occurred, and lives, property and natural resources were seriously threatened and often destroyed. The Panel recommends seven primary actions. Some recommendations have specific requirements and sub-actions that accompany the primary recommendation and are necessary for full implementation. The recommendations are: * Increase the level of accountability and interest for large fire costs and their impacts by allocating suppression funds on a regional or equivalent basis. * Set policy and direction on agency land/resource management planning to incorporate cost management on large wildfires. * Plan, budget, and manage resources effectively for large fire suppression such that resources for effective initial response and extended attack are not compromised. *Ensure initial responses are always aggressive and driven by the principle of utilizing the closest appropriate resources, including those of local and tribal governments. * Incorporate fuels management and future fire management cost considerations when planning all resource management projects for public and private lands. * Commit to improving the fire cost data infrastructure as a prerequisite step towards improving accountability and strengthening fire management performance. * Develop and use a benefit cost measure as the core measure of suppression cost effectiveness. Successful implementation of the recommendations will require the full support and attention of agency administrators and the oversight of Wildland Fire Leadership Council.