U.S. Department of the Interior



Memorandum of Understanding
Wildland Fire Leadership Council


This Memorandum of Understanding establishes the Wildland Fire Leadership Council to support the implementation and coordination of the National Fire Plan and the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy.

Mission


The Council will be a cooperative, interagency organization dedicated to achieving consistent implementation of the goals, actions, and policies in the National Fire Plan and the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy. The Council will provide leadership and oversight to ensure policy coordination, accountability and effective implementation of the National Fire Plan and the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy.

Goals


The Council, through its members, and pursuant to relevant statutory authority, will work to achieve consistent and coordinated efforts to implement all objectives of the National Fire Plan and the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy, including the following:
    § Identification of common, outcome-based interagency performance measures;

    § Development of common data elements and common reporting systems to
         support performance management accountability;

    § Development of common procedures for the seamless delivery of an effective
         fuels hazard reduction program;

    § Coordination of efforts to use wildland fire and other tools to maintain and
          restore ecosystem health;

    § Development of common procedures for mitigating wildfire hazards in the
         wildland urban interface;

    § Integration of federal fire, land and resource programs to implement the
         National Fire Plan and the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy;

    § Consideration of appropriate methods and strategies for utilizing biomass
          removal to support the goals of the National Fire Plan; and

    § Coordinated and consistent direction and monitoring of field unit performance.

Organization


The Council consists of the Department of Agriculture's Under Secretary for Natural Resources and the Environment and the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, the Department of the Interior's Directors of the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management, the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs and the Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Interior. Staffing the Council will be coordinated by the Department of Agriculture's Office of Fire and Aviation Management and the Department of the Interior's Office of Wildland Fire Coordination.

The Council will elect a chair. The chair will rotate between Departments annually. The Council will meet at least quarterly to monitor progress on implementation of the National Fire Plan and the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy.

If the Council cannot reach agreement or consensus on an issue, a memorandum will be transmitted to the Deputy Secretaries, and subsequently, if necessary, to the Secretaries of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior for review and resolution consistent with applicable provisions of law.

The actions and obligations of the agencies and bureaus under this Memorandum of Understanding are subject to the availability of appropriations. Each party will carry out its activities in a coordinated and mutually beneficial manner. Both the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior will manage their own activities and utilize their own resources including the expenditure of their own funds, in pursuing these objectives. This Memorandum of Understanding takes effect upon the signature of both the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior and shall remain in effect for five (5) years from the date of execution. This Memorandum of Understanding may be extended or amended upon written request of either the Department of Agriculture or the Department of the Interior and the subsequent written concurrence of the other. Either the Department of Agriculture or the Department of the Interior may terminate this Memorandum of Understanding with a 60-day written notice to the other.

Collaboration


The Council will work with a collaborative group of state and local officials, tribal officials, and other federal partners, including regulatory officials, to solicit their advice, knowledge and expertise on federal wildland fire, fuels hazard reduction and natural resource management, and to work to integrate these activities with other federal, state, and tribal programs.

Approval


The undersigned approve this Memorandum of Understanding to support the implementation and coordination of the National Fire Plan and the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy.



Gale A. Norton Ann M. Veneman
Secretary Secretary
Department of the Interior Department of Agriculture
Dated: ______________
Dated: _______________













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