FMI has a broad scope of tasks that it can undertake. These fall under the general headings of development, support, training, and maintenance. Requests for assistance must come through the process outlined in “How to Propose a Project.”
DEVELOPMENT
- Develop new products (literature syntheses, maps, spatial layers, and publications)
- Develop methods for targeting strategic locations for fuel treatments based on fire behavior modeling, spatial analysis, ecological modeling, and integration of other resource needs.
- Assist in the development of Fire Behavior Condition Classes
- Assist in the comparison of analytical tools, including models, for addressing fuel management issues, fire suppression activities, and other fire and fuel related issues.
SUPPORT
- Provide long term technical support for fire suppression, prescribed fire, wildland fire use, and fuel management
- Support managers in implementing strategically placed fuel treatments on the landscape
- Respond quickly to requests for technical support in addressing critical issues that may arise at the national, regional, and local levels
- Support fire computer systems by membership in the Information Resource Management (IRM) Working Team, which is part of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG)
- Provide communications services (distribute data, publications, and models; develop and maintain as needed on Internet)
- Support LANDFIRE technology transfer by
- Continuing development of methods for using LANDFIRE data to answer management questions at the appropriate scale of analysis
- Developing methodologies for integrating LANDFIRE data with local or regional data to address specific management issues
- Working directly with managers by helping incorporate LANDFIRE data on local projects that address management issues (e.g. effective fuel treatment placements), demonstrating other potential analysis procedures (e.g. landscape changes over time), and documenting these procedures for future applications
- Support other interagency activities (e.g. Fire Program Analysis (FPA) Systems or Fire Regime Condition Class (FRCC) Interagency Team) by helping fine tune model applications, mentoring users, developing new methodologies, documenting methods for use in future applications, and interacting with teams to help address future issues.
TRAINING
- Mentor managers in the use of models, spatial analysis, and data analysis in management applications (for instance, in application of FRCC and LANDFIRE data)
- Provide training (develop curricula and courses, develop training materials, put on workshops)
MAINTENENCE
- Maintain products, including FEIS, the Fire Effects Literature Collection, and the Coarse Scale analysis
- Continue support for all levels of Fire Regime Condition Class mapping and application efforts
