Draft SNFPA Management Review and Recommendations

Conformance with the National Fire Plan

Background

To respond to the wildland fires in 2000, the President requested, and Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture submitted, a September 8, 2000, report, Managing the Impact of Wildfires on Communities and the Environment, A Report to the president In Response to the Wildfires of 2000. This report and budget request, along with congressional direction for substantial new appropriations for wildland fire management for Fiscal Year 2001 and 2002, and the resulting action plans and agency strategies have collectively become known as the National Fire Plan. It has broad support with the present (and previous) administration, the Congress, the Western Governors, and many other local and regional groups.

The National Fire Plan includes a discussion of national priority setting, funding allocations and accomplishment and accountability mechanisms. The Plan serves as a clearinghouse with links to other bi-partisan Federal, State, Tribal and local fire management policies and funding initiatives. In August of 2001, a companion document entitled, A Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment, 10-Year Comprehensive Strategy, (Comprehensive Strategy) was developed by the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior, and State Governors. This document defined the core principles and goals of the Comprehensive Strategy. In May of 2002, the Secretaries and Governors developed the Implementation Plan for the Comprehensive Strategy. This is the latest and most specific National Fire Plan document available to compare to the SNFPA Record of Decision for consistency with national direction. This piece of the National Fire Plan had not been completed at the time the ROD was signed (January 2001).

The Record of Decision (ROD) noted that the priorities and objectives of the fire strategy in the SNFPA were consistent with the National Fire Plan. The Team's findings regarding the likelihood of successful implementation of the selected fire and fuels strategy was presented earlier in this report. These findings cast doubt on the forests ability to adequately meet the goals and objectives of the Implementation Plan and by extension achieve consistency with the National Fire Plan.

USDA Forest Service · Pacific Southwest Region