Fire
Idaho has one of the largest and most complex fire management programs in the Bureau of Land Management. BLM protects and manages wildfire on approximately 11 million acres of rangelands and forests located in central and southern Idaho.
Wildfire management in Idaho is especially challenging due to volatile fuel conditions and difficult terrain. Each year, Idaho’s fire management team responds to an average of 330 that burn about 270,000 of public and private lands. Idaho’s fire management team consists of about 250 seasonal firefighters and 150 yearlong fire managers and specialists.
Interagency Dispatch Centers
Fire management in Idaho is carried out through three regional interagency dispatch centers. Each dispatch center serves as the fire command center for a large region, conducting training, allocating personnel and equipments, managing aircraft operations, providing fire information, and supervising fire management strategies. Each dispatch center has a website that provides current fire information and other important data.
The Boise Interagency Dispatch Center, located in Boise, has fire management responsibility for about 10.8 million acres of public lands in southwestern Idaho.
The South-Central Idaho Interagency Dispatch Center, located in Shoshone, is the command center for about 2.7 million acres in south-central Idaho.
The Eastern Idaho Interagency Fire Center (EIIFC), located in Idaho Falls, is responsible for fire management on about 7.5 million acres of public lands
Fire Program Goals and Priorities
Fire management in Idaho BLM has four major components:
• Wildland fire suppression
• Hazardous fuels treatment
• Fire rehabilitation
• Community assistance and protection
The overarching goals for these components are established in national policy. More specific objectives, priorities and strategies are developed by BLM’s district and field offices in land use plans and Fire Management Plans (FMPs).
BLM’s has two basic priorities in suppressing wildland fires:
• Protect firefighter and public safety
• Protect property and valuable resources
Each FMP refines and applies these priorities to its geographic region. For example, the FMP for the Boise District Office places a high priority on protecting private property and watershed values along the Boise Front, which has a lot of residential development and is a major wildland-urban interface. The FMP also places a high priority on suppressing wildfire and rehabilitating burned lands in the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, which contains nationally significant wildlife habitat. The four components of the District’s fire program – fire suppression, fuels treatment, fire rehabilitation, and community assistance –work together to achieve these fire management priorities.
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