Background

In February 2011, the Department of the Interior (DOI) Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Safety, Resource Protection, and Emergency Services and the USDA Forest Service Deputy Chief for State and Private Forestry issued a memorandum directing their agencies to chart a course for implementation of the National Wildland Fire Enterprise Architecture (NWFEA) Blueprint. In response, Implementing the National Wildland Fire Enterprise Architecture Blueprint (PDF, 1.5 MB) was completed and approved in July 2011. The Senior Advisors for the Deputy Chief (Forest Service) and Deputy Assistant Secretary (DOI) were tasked to:

• develop a single, executive level governance body and structure for wildland fire information and technology investments and activities; and
• develop a common wildland fire information and technology vision and strategy for use in evaluating current and new investments.

The Senior Advisors provided a report that was accepted by the Deputy Assistant Secretary and the Deputy Chief on March 23, 2012.

• Wildland Fire Information and Technology: Strategy, Governance, and Investments, March 23, 2015 (PDF, 1.7 MB)

In April 2012, the Federal Fire Policy Council reviewed the report and concurred with moving forward with implementation. The governance and management structure for Wildland Fire Information and Technology (WFIT) is based on an integrated, cohesive approach for information and technology while maintaining the integrity of the reporting relationships of personnel within the Forest Service and the DOI wildland fire management program. This structure provides a clear, single interface point between the wildland fire "line of business" and the investment decision‐making structures of the two organizations. It provides a single, unified capability to identify requirements and priorities, to efficiently make investment decisions and manage all of those investments as a single portfolio.