FSH 5109.19 - FIRE MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS AND PLANNING HANDBOOK 1/83 WO AMENDMENT 1 CHAPTER 10 - NATIONAL FIRE MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS SYSTEM OVERVIEW 10.2 - Objective. Fire management analysis and planning is accomplished through the use of the National Fire Management Analysis System (NFMAS). NFMAS was developed to: 1. Provide a formal process to integrate fire management planning with land management planning. 2. Provide input into the program development and budgeting processes at Forest, Regional, and national levels. 3. Establish a consistent budget analysis process for evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of the fire program at the national and Regional levels. 4. Provide a means to determine fire suppression resource and program needs which are considered national or Regional in scope. 10.4 - Responsibilities 1. Designated National Forests. The Chief has designated a number of representative National Forests (see exhibit 1). These forests shall complete all components of the forest analysis process. Data from these forests are included in the national data base and used to determine the most efficient national fire program level. Data from these units are also used by those forests not completing level II. Regional Foresters may designate other National Forests and will determine which National Forest areas will be represented by the data from the forests completing the entire forest analysis. 2. Non-Designated National Forests. All non-designated National Forests shall complete level I and the program implementation components of the forest analysis process. FIRE MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS AND PLANNING HANDBOOK Exhibit 1 The following National Forests are designated by the Chief as representative Forests. Region 1 Region 2 Clearwater Black Hills Gallatin Medicine Bow Helena Pike San Isabel Kootenai San Juan Nezperce Region 3 Region 4 Apache-Sitgreaves Boise Coconino Dixie Gila Humboldt Lincoln Payette Santa Fe Targhee Tonto Wasatch Region 5 Region 6 Angeles Gifford Pinchot Cleveland Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie Los Padres Siskiyou Modoc Wallowa-Whitman Plumas Wenatchee Sequoia Winema Stanislaus Region 8 Region 9 Jefferson Huron-Manistee Mississippi Mark Twain Ozark-St. Francis Monongahela Region 10 Chugach 10.6 - Use by State and Local Fire Protection Agencies. The National Fire Management Analysis System (NFMAS) is appropriate for use by State and local fire protection agencies to develop and identify efficient fire management programs. Some adjustments in data and procedures may be required. Appropriate translation of organizational level references (Forest, Regional, and national) will be necessary to equate to individual agency organizations. 11 - SYSTEM DESCRIPTION. The National Fire Management Analysis System (NFMAS) is a broad umbrella process to help fire managers fulfill their planning and analysis roles. Direction for the forest fire protection and use programs, appropriate to meet resource targets, is developed from resource management objectives and prescriptions through the forest planning process. NFMAS is used to identify the most efficient fire program meeting this direction and to provide information for the planning record on program composition, annual cost (Forest Fire Protection (FFP), and Forest Fire Fighting (FFF), expected resource impacts, and net value change. It also provides information on the consequences of alternative fire management programs. Information from NFMAS, for the selected forest plan alternative, is used to guide the preparation of annual forest program recommendations. While the most efficient program will be the desired one, budget constraints require the development of alternatives. NFMAS data are used to objectively assess the magnitude of consequences at constrained levels and aid in properly balancing the recommended fire program with those of other resource and management activities. The interrelationship between NFMAS, forest planning, and program development and planning is illustrated on exhibit 1. The process is applicable to all National Forests irrespective of local requirements and programs. Flexibility has been built into the process to provide planning and analysis capability for the low fire workload National Forest as well as the forest with the most complex fire management situation. The system consists of two parts: fire management analysis and budget analysis. SEE PAPER COPY FOR EXHIBIT 1 11.1 - Fire Management Analysis. The fire management analysis process provides input for forest planning and forest and Regional fire program development and budgeting. The analysis is carried out at forest, Regional, and national levels. 1. Forest Analysis. The forest process has three components which integrate with forest planning: a. Level I. The analysis of the forest's fire management program under the current management situation. For forests with less complex workloads, this analysis may provide sufficient information to describe future fire program needs and consequences. b. Level II. The formulation and analysis of fire management program options, functional mixes and/or budgets, to identify the most efficient program meeting forest plan management direction. c. Program Implementation. The development and documentation of detailed information on kind, location, timing, and budget for implementation of the efficient fire program for the selected management alternative. Where constraints limit the fire program to less than efficient levels, the consequences and most effective program for alternative budgets are developed and documented. 2. Regional and National Analysis. The Regional and national process determines the kind, amount, and location of fire suppression forces and resources which are considered Regional or national in scope and are used but not planned or controlled by the forest analysis. Examples would be shared resources, such as airtankers, smokejumpers, or inter-Regional crews. The Regional analysis coordinates requirements generated by the forest analysis use of these resources and develops the most efficient level, mix, and balance with local forces. The national analysis coordinates Regional requirements for shared resources and determines national levels, locations, and timing. 11.2 - Budget Analysis. The budget analysis process identifies the most efficient unit distribution of fire protection funds at any given national or Regional budget level and documents the consequences in terms of expected annual Forest Fire Fighting (FFF) costs and net resource value changes. The National Fire Management Analysis System (NFMAS) budget analysis data are used to compare the relative efficiency of fire management program levels among forests and guide the development of Regional fire management program alternatives or levels for constrained budgets. In the Washington Office, NFMAS data are used to compare relative efficiency of program levels among Regions, identify the efficient national program and to assess the consequences of constrained budgets. This results in national fire management budget and program recommendations to United States Department of Agriculture, Office of Management and Budget, and Congress. The Washington Office and Regions also use NFMAS as a guide for adjusting distribution of the appropriated budget when it differs from the recommended program. The budget analysis process is divided into two separate components. 1. Regional Analysis. An analysis process to aggregate and/or develop Regional fire management programs and then determine the final distribution of allocated funds. 2. National Analysis. An analysis process to aggregate Regional fire management programs to form the national program and then to guide funding decisions so all Regions are funded at a similar level of efficiency. 12 - DATA REQUIREMENTS. Certain baseline information is necessary to adequately assess past inpacts of fire management on the current management situation and provide the basis for formulating future fire management direction. 1. Historical Records a. A narrative description of the current fire management direction, prescriptions, and practices must be prepared. Travel times for initial action and local reinforcement forces are necessary. An inventory of the forest's fire detection and suppression staffing, equipment, and facilities is also needed. This includes State, Regional, national, and cooperator resources typically available to the unit for initial action and local reinforcement. b. Historic fire occurrence data for the recent past is required. This includes listing of individual fires by fire number, intensity level, size, date and time of discovery, location, and statistical cause. c. A brief narrative and statistics describing the past 5-year prescribed burning program is required. 2. Fire Regime. A description of fire effects, fire history, fuels, and the impact of fire protection, including the interruption of natural fire cycles must be prepared. 3. Fuel Information. Documentation of existing or predicted fuel conditions described in terms of National Fire Danger Rating System fuel models representative of the planning area is required. 4. Topographic and Weather Information. Documentation of the daily historic fire weather observations and fire weather station descriptors from local stations representative of each of the historic fires and for each fire management analysis zone is necessary. 5. Fire Management Analysis Zones. Delineation of the fire management analysis zones for the forest is necessary.