Fire Management
Interagency Cooperation
Interagency cooperation is crucial in Alaska when undertaking fire
management activities because of the landscape scale of fire occurrence
in our fire-adapted ecosystems. The Alaska Wildland Fire Coordinating  Group and associated committees and task groups are the focal point
for interagency fire management cooperation. This group developed the
Alaska Interagency Wildland Fire Management Plan. The Plan delineates
initial attack responses and decision criteria for managing wildland
fires on most of the fire-prone lands in Alaska.
There are three primary wildland fire suppression agencies in Alaska.
The Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service provides suppression
services for Department of Interior Agencies including the Bureau of
Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Park Service, and
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Alaska Fire Service also provides
wildland fire suppression services for Native Lands and Military Lands
in Alaska. The State of Alaska Division of Forestry provides wildland
fire suppression on state and private lands in Alaska. The U.S. Forest
Service provides fire management on National Forest lands in Alaska.
For operational efficiency, the Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire
Service, the State of Alaska Division of Forestry and the U.S. Forest
Service have established fire management zones, and have entered into
cooperative agreements to minimize duplication and increase efficiency
of suppression services provided in some areas.
Land Managers such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service retain overall
responsibility for all fire management activities occurring on their
respective lands, and directly oversee their own prevention, education,
vegetation management and community/rural fire assistance programs.
Last updated: August 27, 2008
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