BLM Colorado | Fire | Additional Coordination, Cooperation, and Collaboration

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

Colorado



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Additional Coordination, Cooperation, and Collaboration

Interagency Coordination

Fire management in Colorado is an interagency partnership between numerous federal, state and local entities across the nation. Under the National Fire Plan, BLM Colorado and the other Department of the Interior (DOI) agencies, coordinate with the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) to distribute Rural Fire Assistance (RFA) funds to local fire departments. The U.S. Forest Service and the CSFS have a similar funding system called Volunteer Fire Assistance (VFA). The cooperative atmosphere between federal and state agencies ensures that local fire departments can efficiently use these two different sources of fire department support.

Since 2002, RFA funds from DOI have supplemented hundreds of fire departments in Colorado with several million dollars to aid departments in obtaining personal protective equipment, radios, tools and wildland fire training. In 2007, the RFA and VFA programs were eliminated nationally; however, within DOI, a new program called Ready Reserve was initiated to help train firefighters at the local fire department level.

Fire Home

A catalog of current federal, state, and private foundation funding sources may be viewed on this website: www.rockymountainwildlandfire.info This catalog is intended to provide a “one-stop” location where communities, fire departments, and counties can go to find financial and technical assistance to support fire and wildland health projects. The BLM, CSFS, and Western Forestry Leadership Coalition have all worked together in developing the catalog and its searchable database.

BLM Colorado has an on-going contract with the Natural Resource Conservation Service and Meeker Plant Center to propagate and store native seed from indigenous plants to use in fire rehabilitation efforts.

Colorado Communities

Challenges and risks associated with wildland fire management are increasing both in complexity and extent. As people move in or adjacent to wildlands, fire managers are faced with the challenging task of protecting lives and property while ensuring firefighter safety and doing what is best for the land. The wildland urban interface, or WUI, is defined as areas where structures or other industrial/residential developments meet or intermingle with undeveloped wild areas, and may be susceptible to forest or rangeland fires.

The BLM continues to work with its interagency partners to organize and train regional fire prevention teams to respond rapidly to WUI fires in order to prepare residents, and to minimize the loss and distress associated with WUI fires. The BLM also works with other federal, state, and local land management agencies, including the Western Governors Association , the National Association of State Foresters , and many others to identify communities across the country that face wildfire risks.

Community Partnerships and Education

BLM Colorado has worked closely with numerous groups and institutions throughout the state to produce various educational products such as videos, brochures and a range of workshops and informational meetings regarding wildland fire. These products highlight existing and proposed activities that focus on mitigating wildfire risks to individual homeowners, businesses and communities.

Through the on-going work of the BLM’s Fire Mitigation and Educations Specialists, each fire management unit in Colorado creates and fosters excellent working relationships with local government officials, as well as their associated fire and law enforcement officials. These local programs are customized to fit the unique and diverse communities that abound within Colorado.