+------------+----------+-------+--------+-----+-------+------------+
| **United   | **Forest | **    | **O    | **  |       | **United   |
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+------------+----------+-------+--------+-----+-------+------------+
| **Reply    |          |       |        |     | **Da  |            |
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| To:**      |          |       |        |     | March |            |
| 1900       |          |       |        |     | 3,    |            |
| /2200/2380 |          |       |        |     | 2005  |            |
| /2400/2500 |          |       |        |     |       |            |
| /2600/5100 |          |       |        |     |       |            |
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| (OR-934)P  |          |       |        |     |       |            |
+------------+----------+-------+--------+-----+-------+------------+

+-------+------------------+-------------------------------------------+
| **    |                  | **EMS TRANSMISSION**                      |
| FS-Me |                  |                                           |
| moran |                  | **BLM-Information Bulletin No. OR-2005-** |
| dum** |                  |                                           |
+-------+------------------+-------------------------------------------+
|       |                  |                                           |
+-------+------------------+-------------------------------------------+
| **    | Forest Service   |                                           |
| To:** | Forest           |                                           |
|       | Supervisors and  |                                           |
|       | Bureau of Land   |                                           |
|       | Management       |                                           |
|       | District         |                                           |
|       | Managers         |                                           |
+-------+------------------+-------------------------------------------+
|       |                  |                                           |
+-------+------------------+-------------------------------------------+
| **    | Formation of     |                                           |
| Subje | Area Fire        |                                           |
| ct:** | Ecology          |                                           |
|       | Implementation   |                                           |
|       | Teams            |                                           |
+-------+------------------+-------------------------------------------+

Reducing forest and range fuel loads to protect communities and restore
fire-adapted ecosystems is among the top priorities of both the Forest
Service and Bureau of Land Management. Congress and the public expect us
to make steady, measurable progress in this regard. Moreover, because
funding and personnel resources are limited, effective planning of where
fuels treatments are implemented is critical for success.

In recent years, a number of tools have become available for tracking
our progress and effectively locating treatments. These include, but are
not limited to, Fire Regime Condition Class (FRCC), the Fireshed
process, FIREMON protocols, and additional tools to model fire behavior
and wildland fire risks.

It is becoming increasingly evident that implementation of fire ecology
training, troubleshooting, standardization, and assistance to planning
would be most efficiently implemented through interdisciplinary,
interagency teams, organized throughout the geographic area. Such a team
is already in place at the Regional Office/State Office level and has
made strides in organizing the FRCC effort in the Region. It is now time
to expand this concept to the areas (Northwest Oregon, Southwest Oregon,
Central/Southeast Oregon, Northeast Oregon, Eastern Washington, and an
optional team for Western Washington).

Teams should focus on identifying implementation skills, not assembling
a set list of participating disciplines. Modest budgetary support is
being provided in FY 05 for the teams. The goal is not to fund
positions, but rather to "lock in" time to work on the teams'
objectives.

Some of the responsibilities we envisage for the teams are:

1.  Provide training in FRCC, FIREMON, and other appropriate protocols.

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1.  Answer questions from the field.

2.  Develop standard definitions for landscapes, fire frequency and
    severity values, and other key data for their areas. This standard
    information can then be shared with all those working in the area.

3.  Identify problems with implementation and seek solutions with State
    and Regional staff.

4.  Provide quality control and accountability through field visits,
    random checks of National Fire Plan Operations and Reporting System
    (NFPORS) reporting, etc.

Forest Service Forest Supervisors and Bureau of Land Management District
Managers 2

Each team should annually provide a program of work to the Regional
Implementation Team, detailing specific activities and products to be
generated.

Enclosed is Regional/State Office direction on implementing FRCC.
Guidance for FIREMON, Fireshed, and other applications will be
forthcoming.

/s/ Jim Golden (for) /s/ Cathy L. Harris (for)

LINDA GOODMAN ELAINE M. BRONG

Regional Forester, Region 6 State Director, Oregon/Washington

USDA Forest Service USDI Bureau of Land Management

Enclosure

cc: [BLM Distribution]{.underline}

NR Tom DeMeo WO (FA-100)

Cal Joyner OR 934 (Louisa Evers)

Doug Daoust OR 930 (Mike Mottice)

Bonnie Wood OR 931 (Mike Haske)

Peggy Kain OR 933 (Miles Brown)

FAM Karyn Wood OR 934 (Leo Sidebotham)

Ken Snell

RPM Lisa Freedman,

/media/pszemraj/PeterTrove/project-files/DATA/ms-word-files/big-DOC/527634.doc

Editor: Jean Harris: x2450: 2-8-05: log \# 80

**Direction on**

**Implementation Teams**

**Monitoring of Fuels Treatments**

**Through Fire Regime Condition Class (FRCC), FIREMON, and Related
Protocols**

**[Why:]{.underline}**

Use of FRCC is a reporting mandate for Healthy Forest Restoration Act
(HFRA) products, and is the interagency standard on reporting changes in
condition class across landscapes. FRCC is essentially a landscape
measure of departure from the historic range of conditions (see
[www.frcc.gov](http://www.frcc.gov/)). In a larger sense, it provides an
interagency, peer-reviewed standard for documenting problem areas (and
our progress in alleviating those problems) across our landscapes. ***In
discussions with a variety of groups, a clear consensus is emerging that
if we cannot report our progress in restoring fire ecosystems in a
consistent, defensible, and ecologically accurate manner, we will fail
both in a resource management and in a larger societal context.***

As we implement FRCC, the need for support teams is becoming
increasingly evident. Since FRCC is effectively a landscape planning
tool, questions continually emerge, such as:

1.  What is a landscape? What is its area? How is it defined?

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1.  How does the potential vegetation concept fit for a specific area?

2.  What is the historic fire frequency and severity for an area?

We advocate the formation of expert support teams to answer these
questions "in the background" to the user. Such an approach would lead
to a much more efficient application of FRCC.

We have also found there is a growing call for assistance on condition
class mapping and answering FRCC questions.

Finally, we have been asked to provide at least seven trainings in FY 05
for groups of National Forests/BLM Districts within the Region.

For more intensive, focused monitoring on specific fuels reduction
questions, we intend to follow the national FIREMON protocols (see
http://fire.org/firemon/). Over the past few years we have taken initial
steps to implement this as a joint USFS/BLM effort. The time is ripe to
formally implement these methods as our standard.

In short, FRCC will be our routine landscape monitoring tool, and
FIREMON protocols will be used to address monitoring questions in areas
of particular management interest or controversy.

**[What and Who:]{.underline}**

With leadership approval, we have informally established a regional FRCC
and fire monitoring support group consisting of Louisa Evers, state
office/regional fire ecologist, Tom DeMeo, regional vegetation
ecologist, Kim Mellen, regional wildlife ecologist, Bill McArthur,
regional silviculturist, Bill Fish and Tim Rich, regional fuels
specialists, Jeff Uebel, assistant regional fish biologist, and George
Buckner, BLM state office wildlife biologist.

We also strongly recommend establishing interdisciplinary, interagency
teams of existing personnel dedicated for part of the fiscal year to the
task of supporting FRCC and FIREMON. Team membership would be decided by
the local areas (Eastern Washington, Northeast Oregon, Central Oregon,
Northwest Oregon, and Southwest Oregon, with an optional team for
Western Washington). Team membership should focus on demonstrated skills
and dedication rather than a checklist of disciplines. Time allocated to
this task should be determined by the local area, with an emphasis on
specific products and services generated for the time allocated.

Specific tasks include:

1.  Define and document landscapes for the local area.

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1.  Provide historic and current fire frequency and severity values by
    vegetation type for the area.

2.  Crosswalk potential vegetation guides to the potential vegetation
    definitions used in the FRCC guidebook.

3.  Where appropriate, model new reference values using VDDT for
    potential vegetation types, in cooperation with regional and
    national teams.

4.  Assist in developing condition class maps.

5.  Provide FRCC methods training as called on.

6.  Answer questions from the field.

7.  Provide consistency and quality control by reviewing FRCC
    determinations from the field.

8.  Provide tools/suggestions to improve integration in analysis of
    condition class and fuels treatment planning to produce
    multi-resource benefits.

**[How:]{.underline}**

This attachment should be considered direction to officially establish
the implementation teams and describe their responsibilities. In FY05
modest funding has been provided to support the area implementation
teams through Oregon and Washington. Since these are not "new" dollars,
the allocation essentially represents a decision on how existing
personnel will allocate their time. While there is no guarantee of
future funding, the regional implementation team is dedicated to the
success of the area teams and will make a good faith effort to secure
funding in the future.

**[Where:]{.underline}**

One team at the regional level and five teams for the areas described
above, with an optional team for Western Washington.

**[When:]{.underline}**

Area implementation teams should be forming in FY05.

Time is of the essence. There is strong feeling at national, regional,
and local levels we need to implement promptly. Incidentally, the
concept of implementation teams has been well-received nationally, and
we are perceived as a leader in this regard.