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.

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