Record Detail Back
The Federal land Assistance, Management and Enhancement Act of 2009
- Share to:
Wildland fire management across all lands and jurisdictions in the United States involves a complex matrix of fuel types, climate considerations, mission goals, policies, land and resource values, social concerns, and costs. None of these issues are new. However, because each of these elements — individually and collectively — is dynamic, the fire community is continually adapting and evolving to meet the challenges posed by wildland fire.
The past two decades have seen a rapid escalation of extreme fire behavior, increased risk to responders, home and property losses, higher costs, and increased threats to communities and landscapes. These trends call for a broad-based, collaborative and cohesive response to better address these mounting challenges. Congress, the fire community, and the public have recognized a need for a new strategy, a new path forward, and perhaps a new way of thinking about wildland fire.
As is the nature of many evolutionary phases, this current effort has generated collaborative consideration and examination of wide-ranging but pertinent elements in creating a synergistic move forward. While this report addresses the specific elements requested by Congress in the FLAME Act — most cost-effective means for allocating budget resources; reinvest in non-fire programs; employ appropriate management response; allocation of hazardous fuel reduction funding based on priority projects; assessing the impacts of climate change on the frequency and severity of wildfire; and study the effects of invasive species on wildfire risk — a separate but companion document expands upon the elements here and outlines a path toward development of a national cohesive wildland fire management strategy which will provide a foundation from which to build local and regional actions and direction.