Federal management of wildland fire : key changes and perspectives on policy / Rebecca Salazar, editor.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Salazar, Rebecca, editor.

Series:

Environmental remediation technologies, regulations and safety.

Environmental Remediation Technologies, Regulations and Safety

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fire management--United States.

Fire management.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (141 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York, [New York] : Nova Science Publishers, 2016.

Summary:

Wildland fire plays an important ecological role in maintaining healthy ecosystems. Over the past century, however, various land management practices, including fire suppression, have disrupted the normal frequency of fires and have contributed to larger and more severe wildland fires. Wildland fires cost billions to fight each year, result in loss of life, and cause damage to homes and infrastructure. This book examines key changes the federal wildland fire agencies have made in their approach to wildland fire management since 2009; how the agencies assess the effectiveness of their wildland fire management programs; and how the agencies determine the distribution of their wildland fire management resources.

Contents:

FEDERAL MANAGEMENT OF WILDLAND FIRE KEY CHANGES AND PERSPECTIVES ON POLICY ; FEDERAL MANAGEMENT OF WILDLAND FIRE KEY CHANGES AND PERSPECTIVES ON POLICY ; CONTENTS ; PREFACE ; Chapter 1 WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT: AGENCIES HAVE MADE SEVERAL KEY CHANGES BUT COULD BENEFIT FROM MORE INFORMATION ABOUT EFFECTIVENESS* ; WHY GAO DID THIS STUDY ; WHAT GAO RECOMMENDS ; WHAT GAO FOUND ; ABBREVIATIONS ; BACKGROUND; Primary Federal Land Management Agencies with Wildland Fire Management Responsibilities; Key Components of Wildland Fire Management ; Funding for Federal Wildland Fire Management

Federal Wildland Fire Policy History AGENCIES HAVE MADE SEVERAL KEY CHANGES IN THEIR APPROACH TO WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT SINCE 2009 ; Agencies Issued Guidance that Provided Greater Flexibility in Responding to Wildland Fire ; Agencies Made Changes Intended to Formalize Collaboration with Nonfederal Partners; Increased Emphasis by Interior on the Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystem ; Agencies Made Additional Changes in other Areas of Wildland Fire Management ; Working to Improve Technology for Wildland Fire Planning and Response ; Increasing Line-Officer Training

Emphasizing the Primacy of Firefighter Safety AGENCIES ASSESS EFFECTIVENESS OF THEIR PROGRAMS IN SEVERAL WAYS, BUT HAVE NOT CONSISTENTLY CONDUCTED REVIEWS THAT COULD IMPROVE RESPONSES TO WILDLAND FIRES ; Agencies Use Various Performance Measures to Assess Wildland Fire Management ; Agencies Have Undertaken Multiple Efforts to Assess Effectiveness of Specific Activities ; Forest Service and Interior Agencies Have Not Consistently Conducted Reviews of Wildland Fire Incidents to Assess their Effectiveness

Agencies Distribute Resources in Part on the Basis of Historical Amounts, but are Developing New Methods Intended to Better Reflect Current Conditions Agencies Fund Suppression as Needed for Responding to Wildland Fires ; Forest Service and Interior Distribute Preparedness Funding Based in Part on an Obsolete System They Are Working to Replace ; Forest Service and Interior Distribution of Preparedness Funds to Regions and Agencies ; Forest Service Regions' Distribution to Individual National Forests ; Interior Agencies' Distribution to Regional Offices

Agencies Are Working to Distribute Fuel Reduction Funding to Better Account for Current ConditionsCONCLUSION ; RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EXECUTIVE ACTION ; AGENCY COMMENTS AND OUR EVALUATION ; APPENDIX I: OBJECTIVES, SCOPE, AND METHODOLOGY ; APPENDIX II: FOREST SERVICE AND INTERIOR AGENCY OBLIGATIONS FOR PREPAREDNESS, FUEL REDUCTION, AND SUPPRESSION, FISCAL YEARS 2004 THROUGH 2014 ; APPENDIX III: DIFFERENCES IN FOREST SERVICE AND DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SALARY PAYMENTS USING PREPAREDNESS AND SUPPRESSION FUNDING ; End Notes

Chapter 2 STATEMENT OF TOM TIDWELL, CHIEF, USDA FOREST SERVICE. HEARING ON "THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S ROLE IN WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT, THE IMPACT OF FIRES ON COMMUNITIES, AND POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS TO BE MADE IN FIRE OPERATIONS"

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-63484-865-9