Prescribed Fire
Prescribed Fire
Prescribed fire is any fire ignited to meet specific objectives. A written, approved prescribed fire plan must exist, and NEPA requirements (where applicable) must be met, prior to ignition.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has assumed a leadership role in the use of fire to maintain and support healthy ecosystems. The Service has traditionally led DOI agencies in using prescribed fire to reduce dangerously overgrown vegetation, known as "hazardous fuels," keeping lands in good condition while accomplishing the most with the least funding.
Use of prescribed fire is widely accepted as a primary tool for land and resource managers. Carefully planned prescribed fire gives refuge managers the flexibility and increased control to burn under the right conditions, more effectively managing fire effects and smoke to benefit natural resources while keeping firefighters and the public safe. These actions help reduce the risk of devastating wildfires that can threaten people, fish, wildlife and plants.
Other means of reducing hazardous fuels -- including mechanical removal of brush and timber, chemical treatment of invasive weeds, and other methods -- may be used in combination with prescribed fire or as a substitute where conditions would make the use of fire unsafe or impractical. Where possible, the use of prescribed fire is preferred because it is generally cheaper and yields ecological benefits that cannot be achieved by other means.
Prescribed burn conducted at Stillwater NWR outside of Fallon, Nevada. This photo, taken by FWS firefighter John Wood, won first place in the 2003 Fire Management Today annual photo contest, Prescribed Fire section. (USFWS)
Prioritization and Collaboration
Fuels reduction projects are prioritized based upon the current condition of the land unit being treated, the condition that is expected when the project is completed, and the risk to nearby communities. Restoration projects that improve dangerous conditions , especially in the wildland urban interface (WUI), are generally higher priority than projects that maintain lands already in a safer condition. However, maintaining lands in good condition is also important and cost-effective, because it is much cheaper than restoring neglected lands once conditions have been allowed to deteriorate.
Collaboration with local communities adjacent to national wildlife refuges and other FWS lands is critical to prioritizing projects and determining objectives. Refuge management plans -- known as Comprehensive Conservation and Habitat Management Plans (CCPs/HMPs) -- are developed through a process incorporating public review and input. Fire management plans are then developed to help implement the goals and objectives in the CCPs/HMPs. Regional fire coordinators and refuge fire managers also work directly with their counterparts in state and local agencies when prioritizing and managing fuels reduction projects.
Mechanical removal of overgrown junipers and brush prepares this area
on refuge lands to be safely burned by fire managers.
Classifying Condition of Land Units
Because fire occurs naturally in most ecosystems and the exclusion of natural fire raises the risk of eventual catastrophic fire, the condition of federal lands and their related widlfire risk is classified by fire managers based on the land's departure from the natural pattern of fire occurence (called the fire regime):
- Condition Class 1: Fire regimes are within their historical range, with a low risk of losing key ecosystem components during a wildfire.
- Condition Class 2: Fire regimes have been moderately altered from their historical range, with a moderate risk of losing key ecosystem components during a wildfire. Fire frequencies are one or more fire return intervals away from historical frequencies.
- Condition Class 3: Fire regimes have been significantly altered from their historical range, with a high risk of losing key ecosystem components. Fire frequencies are multiple return intervals away from historical frequencies. Vegetation attributes have been significantly altered from their historical range.