IS YOUR COMMUNITY WILDFIRE READY? Applying the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Strategy at the Local Level Josh Van Vlack
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n western states, wildland fires have become part of the culture in and outside the fire service. Rarely a day goes by without wildfire-related headlines- countless acres burned, homes destroyed, infrastructure damaged, not to mention post-fire effects like impacts to drinking water, erosion, flooding, and reconstruction. But wildfires are not unique to the mountain west and arid southwest. The southeast and eastern regions of the United States have their share of wildfires also, totaling over a million acres annually. In 2016, the Great Smoky Mountains wildfires claimed the lives of 14 individuals and destroyed close to 2,500 homes. To address this threat throughout the nation, the Secretary of Interior and Secretary of Agriculture established the Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC) in 2010. WFLC was charged with
developing a holistic strategy to approach wildland fires nationwide. These efforts resulted in the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy, released in 2014. The vision of WFLC in writing the strategy was “to safely and effectively extinguish a fire when needed; use fire where allowable; manage our natural resources; and as a Nation, live with wildland fire.” Three goals were developed within the strategy to work towards this vision:
• Restore and maintain landscapes:
Landscapes across all jurisdictions are resilient to fire-related disturbances in accordance with management objectives.
• Fire-adapted communities:
Human populations and infrastructure can withstand a wildfire without loss of life and property.
• Wildfire response: All
jurisdictions participate in making and implementing safe, effective, efficient risk-based wildfire management decisions. Now, before I continue, I’m sure every reader is asking how a 100-page federal report written by a bunch of bureaucrats over the course of four years applies to the fire service in general and local jurisdictions in particular? I would argue that many of the things we already do in the rural and suburban fire service work towards these three pillars and add a few more ideas to get your community wildfire ready. RESTORE AND MAINTAIN LANDSCAPES Have you driven around your community and noticed high concentrations of fuel, or maybe areas of continuous fuel such as greenways, parks, or open spaces? How many of those areas are administered by your local parks department, public works,
or other similar agency? Has your department considered working with them to both educate them on the risk and propose mitigation measures? In the south, where there is generally more social license to utilize prescribed fire, it may be possible to plan and execute seasonal fuel reduction burns in and around your community. This can achieve several objectivesprescribed fire offers exceptional training opportunities within individual departments and normal mutual-aid agencies but can also offer unique opportunities to train with other partners such as state wildland fire agencies, departments of natural resources, and even wildlife agencies. If there is potential for wildlife habitat enhancement, many NGOs such as Quail Forever, Rough Grouse Society, Pheasants Forever, and the Nature Conservancy have prescribed fire programs. In an era when the fire is rarely portrayed
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