LANDFIRE-Background

Product Updates

Reference Data
Previous Contributions
Event Data
Plot Data

Data Design

Research & Methods
General Technical Reports
General Information
Data Quality
Data Use

Application
Guidelines
Data Gallery

Maps
Logos
Program Related

About LANDFIRE ›› Background

Fire The LANDFIRE program evolved from increased concern about the number, severity, and size of wildland fires.

In 2000, the President directed the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to recommend how best to respond to severe wildland fires, reduce the impacts of fire on rural communities, and ensure sufficient firefighting capacity in the future. As a result, Congress implemented the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy (Cohesive Strategy) (formerly the National Fire Plan), which precipitated LANDFIRE, a shared program between the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service’s and U.S. Department of the Interior’s wildland fire management programs under the direction of the Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC). In addition, federal agency policy related to fire/fuel planning, forest restoration, and land health underscored the need for science-based planning.

In 2001, the General Accounting Office reported,

"Federal land management agencies do not have adequate data for making informed decisions and measuring the agencies' progress in reducing fuels."

LANDFIRE started with a prototype in 2002 and was officially chartered in 2004 by WFLC.