**1.0 [INTRODUCTION]{.underline}**

**1.1 Reason for Development of Fire Management Plan**

National Park Service (NPS) policy (*Director's Order #18: Wildland Fire
Management*, Web site
<http://www.fire.nps.gov/fire/policy/do18/do18.htm>) requires that every
park unit with burnable vegetation develop a fire management plan
approved by the park superintendent. The fire management plan serves as
a detailed and comprehensive program of action to implement fire
management policy principles and goals, consistent with the unit's
resource management objectives. This plan outlines the fire management
program at Jimmy Carter National Historic Site (hereinafter referred to
as "the park," "the Carter Compound" \[the 14-acre site within the park
to which this fire management plan specifically pertains\], or by NPS
alpha code "JICA"). The JICA fire management program, guided by federal
policy and the park's resource management objectives, will serve to
protect life, property, and natural and cultural resources.

**1.2 Collaborative Processes**

Jimmy Carter National Historic Site is part of the larger Jimmy Carter
Historic Preservation District, together consisting of a number of
overlapping local, state and federal designations (see section 10.1 for
a detailed discussion). In addition to administering JICA, the National
Park Service collaborates with the State Historic Preservation Office,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Plains Historic Preservation
Commission, the Plains Historic Trust, the Plains City Council, the
Middle Flint Regional Planning Commission, the Jimmy Carter National
Historic Site Advisory Board, the Americus-Sumter County Tourism
Council, community and business leaders, and private landowners
regarding how to best protect the integrity of the entire district.

Collaborative opportunities pertaining to fire management at JICA
include cooperative agreements with the Plains Volunteer Fire
Department, the Georgia Forestry Commission, and local law enforcement.

**1.3 Implementation of Fire Management Policy**

The organizational structure of this fire management plan (FMP) follows
the FMP outline furnished in chapter 4 of *Wildland Fire Management
Reference Manual-18* (version 3.0, dated 11/05/02), hereinafter referred
to as *RM-18* (Web site
<http://www.fire.nps.gov/fire/policy/rm18/index.htm>). This FMP will
guide the park in implementing federal fire management policy and
resource and fire management goals as defined in the *2001 Federal Fire
Policy*; *Managing Impacts of Wildfires on Communities and the
Environment, and Protecting People and Sustaining Resources in
Fire-Adapted Ecosystems---A Cohesive Strategy*; and *A Collaborative
Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the
Environment: 10-Year Comprehensive Strategy Implementation Plan*.

**1.3.1 2001 Federal Fire Policy**

The 1994 fire season with its 34 fatalities triggered a series of
reports under the rubric FIRE 21, including the *1995 Federal Wildland
Fire Management Policy and Program Review.* This review, the first
comprehensive federal fire policy for the Departments of Agriculture and
the Interior, provided direction for fire management programs and
activities, including such areas as safety, protection priorities,
preparedness, suppression, wildland fire use, prevention, and
wildland-urban interface roles and responsibilities. Following the
escape of the Cerro Grande Prescribed Fire in May 2000, the *1995
Federal Fire Policy* was evaluated and revised in the *2001 Review and
Update of the 1995 Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy (2001 Federal
Fire Policy).* The *2001 Federal Fire Policy* finds no fundamental flaws
in the 1995 document. It builds on the *1995 Federal Fire Policy*, and
addresses issues not fully covered in 1995, including rehabilitation and
restoration of burned lands, the importance of sound science driving
fire management activities, and the need for the full range of fire
management activities to achieve ecosystem sustainability.

The *2001 Federal Fire Policy* states that "...successful implementation
of 2001 Federal Fire Policy depends on the development and
implementation of high-quality Fire Management Plans by all land
managing agencies." The policy is founded on the following guiding
principles:

1.  Firefighter and public safety is the first priority in every fire
    management activity.

2.  The role of wildland fire as an essential ecological process and
    natural change agent will be incorporated into the planning process.

3.  Fire management plans, programs, and activities support general and
    resource management plans and their implementation.

4.  Sound risk management is a foundation for all fire management
    activities.

5.  Fire management programs and activities are economically viable,
    based upon values to be protected, costs, and general and resource
    management objectives.

6.  Fire management plans and activities are based upon the best
    available science.

7.  Fire management plans and activities incorporate public health and
    environmental quality considerations.

8.  Federal, State, tribal, local, interagency, and international
    coordination and cooperation are essential.

9.  Standardization of policies and procedures among Federal agencies is
    an ongoing objective.

**1.3.2** **Managing Impacts of Wildfires on Communities and the
Environment, and Protecting People and Sustaining Resources in Fire
Adapted Ecosystems---A Cohesive Strategy**

The *Cohesive Strategy* was developed by the USDA National Forest
Service, the US Department of the Interior, and the National Association
of State Foresters, in response to the 2000 fire season, during which
more then 6.8 million acres of public and private lands burned---more
than twice the 10-year national average. The magnitude of these fires
was attributed to severe drought, accompanied by a series of storms that
produced thousands of lightning strikes followed by windy conditions;
and the long-term effects of almost a century of aggressively
suppressing all wildfires, resulting in an unnatural buildup of brush
and small trees throughout forests and rangelands. The *Cohesive
Strategy* provides an overall framework for implementing fire management
and forest health programs. It is based upon the following operating
principles:

-   Firefighting Readiness: Increase firefighting capability and
    capacity for initial attack, extended attack, and large fire support
    that will reduce the number of small fires becoming large, to better
    protect natural resources, to reduce the threat to adjacent
    communities, and reduce the cost of large fire suppression.

-   Prevention Through Education: Assist state and local partners to
    take actions to reduce fire risk to homes and private property
    through programs such as FIREWISE.

-   Rehabilitation: Focus rehabilitation efforts on restoring watershed
    function, including the protection of basic soil, water resources,
    biological communities, and prevention of invasive species.

-   Hazardous Fuel Reduction: Assign highest priority for hazardous
    fuels reduction to communities at risk, readily accessible municipal
    watersheds, threatened and endangered species habitat, and other
    important local features, where conditions favor
    uncharacteristically intense fires.

-   Restoration: Restore healthy, diverse, and resilient ecological
    systems to minimize uncharacteristically intense fires on a priority
    watershed basis. Methods will include removal of excessive
    vegetation and dead fuels through thinning, prescribed fire, and
    other treatment methods.

-   Collaborative Stewardship: Focus on achieving the desired future
    condition on the land in collaboration with communities, interest
    groups, and state and federal agencies. Streamline process, maximize
    effectiveness, use an ecologically conservative approach, and
    minimize controversy in accomplishing restoration projects.

-   Monitoring: Monitor to evaluate the effectiveness of various
    treatments to reduce unnaturally intense fires while restoring
    forest ecosystem health and watershed function.

-   Jobs: Encourage new stewardship industries and collaborate with
    local people, volunteers, Youth Conservation Corps members, service
    organizations, and Forest Service work crews, as appropriate.

-   Applied Research and Technology Transfer: Focus research on the
    long-term effectiveness of different restoration and rehabilitation
    methods to determine those methods most effective in protecting and
    restoring watershed function and forest health. Seek new uses and
    markets for byproducts of restoration.

**1.3.3 A Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to
Communities and the Environment: 10-Year Comprehensive Strategy
Implementation Plan**

In August, 2001, the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior joined
the Western Governor's Association, National Association of State
Foresters, National Association of Counties, and the Intertribal Timber
Council to endorse *A Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire
Risks to Communities and the Environment: 10-Year Comprehensive
Strategy*. This report marked the initial fulfillment of two key
Congressional directives that:

-   The Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture and the Governors
    jointly develop a long-term national strategy to address the
    wildland fire and hazardous fuels situation and the needs for
    habitat restoration and rehabilitation; and

-   The strategy should be developed with "close collaboration among
    citizens and governments at all levels."

The four goals of the *10-Year Comprehensive Strategy* are:

1.  Improve fire prevention and suppression

2.  Reduce hazardous fuels

3.  Restore Fire-Adapted Ecosystems

4.  Promote community assistance

Its three guiding principles are:

1.  Priority setting that emphasizes the protection of communities and
    other high-priority watersheds at risk

2.  Collaboration among governments and broadly representative
    stakeholders

3.  Accountability through performance measures and monitoring for
    results

**1.4 Environmental Compliance**

In association with this plan, a categorical exclusion form that meets
the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act is included as
Appendix 13.4.

**1.5 Authorities for Implementing Fire Management Plan**

Authority for fire management at the park originates with the Organic
Act of 1916. The Organic Act established the National Park Service "to
promote and regulate the use of the Federal areas known as national
parks,...which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and
historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the
enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave
them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."

The 1978 "Redwood amendment" to the General Authorities Act of 1970
expands upon the provisions of the Organic Act, stating that, "...the
protection, management, and administration of these \[Park Service\]
areas shall be conducted in light of the high public value and integrity
of the National Park System and shall not be exercised in derogation of
the values and purposes for which these various areas have been
established..."

As an NPS fire management program by design tiers to the respective park
unit's general and resource management objectives, fire management is an
effective way of implementing the above legislation.

**2.0** **[RELATIONSHIP TO LAND MANAGEMENT PLANNING AND FIRE
POLICY]{.underline}**

1.  **Federal Fire Management Policy**

The *2001 Federal Fire Policy*, discussed in section 1.3.1, is the
product of a collaborative effort involving the U.S. Department of the
Interior, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy,
the Department of Defense, the Department of Commerce, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, and the National Association of State Foresters. The report
recognizes the role that fire plays as a critical natural process, as
well as the detrimental effects of its absence in fire-adapted
ecosystems. As per the report:

> Historically, fire has been a frequent and major ecological factor in
> North America. In the conterminous United States during the
> preindustrial period (1500-1800), an average of 145 million acres
> burned annually. Today only 14 million acres (federal and non-federal)
> are burned annually by wildland fire from all ignition sources....
>
> This decrease in wildland fire has been a destabilizing influence in
> many fire-adapted ecosystems such as ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine,
> pinyon/juniper woodlands, southern pinelands, whitebark pine, oak
> savanna, pitch pine, aspen, and tallgrass prairie. Fuels increased and
> understory vegetation became more dense. As a result, those wildland
> fires that did occur were larger and more severe than historical
> fires. Eliminating fire also affected individual plant species. For
> example, Hessl and Spackmen (1995) found that, of the 146 threatened,
> endangered, and rare plant species found in the conterminous U.S. for
> which there is conclusive information on fire effects, 135 species
> benefit from wildland fire or are found in fire-adapted ecosystems.

The report further states that:

> ...today's conditions confront us with the likelihood of more rapid,
> extensive ecological changes beyond any we have experienced in the
> past. To address these changes and the challenges they present, we
> must first understand and accept the role of wildland fire, and adopt
> land management practices that integrate fire as an essential
> ecosystem process.
>
> The task before us---reintroducing fire---is both urgent and enormous.
> Conditions on millions of acres of wildlands increase the probability
> of large, intense fires beyond any scale yet witnessed. These severe
> fires will in turn increase the risk to humans, to property, and to
> the land upon which our social and economic well being is so
> intimately intertwined.

**2.2 Establishment of Jimmy Carter National Historic Site**

The National Park System consists of more than 380 units representing
our country's finest natural and cultural assets. Jimmy Carter National
Historic Site and Preservation District was established by Congress
(Public Law 100-206) on December 23, 1987, "...to preserve the key sites
and structures located within the historic site associated with Jimmy
Carter during his life span; provide for the interpretation of the life
and Presidency of Jimmy Carter; and present the history of a small rural
southern town."

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height="4.054166666666666in"}

**2.3 Statement For Management Plan**

The park's 1994 statement for management and basic operations plan
objectives include:

-   Interpretation of the lives of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter; Jimmy
    Carter's presidency; and the history of a small, rural southern
    town, particularly as it shaped the lives of Jimmy and Rosalynn
    Carter.

-   Cultural resources preservation, including the Plains High School
    building and grounds, Jimmy Carter's boyhood home, the Plains
    railroad depot, the Carter compound, and the sites and structures
    within the Jimmy Carter Preservation District.

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-   Preservation of personal property acquired for the purposes of
    inspiring and educating visitors about the life, campaign, and
    presidency of Jimmy Carter.

**2.4 Resource Management Plan Objectives**

Objectives addressed in the park's 1998 resource management plan that
are pertinent to fire management are:

-   Provide for the benefit, inspiration, and education of the American
    people by preserving the key sites and structures located within the
    historic site associated with the life of Jimmy Carter.

-   Preserve and protect natural resources.

-   Preserve and protect cultural resources.

2.5 How Fire Management Plan Supports Statement for Management and
Resource Management Plan Objectives

Principle #3 of the *2001 Federal Fire Policy* states that "fire
management plans, programs, and activities \[will\] support general and
resource management plans and their implementation." This fire
management plan serves as a detailed and comprehensive program of action
to implement federal fire management policy principles and goals, which
in turn support the park's statement for management and resource
management plan objectives, as well as its enabling legislation.
Specifically:

-   Wildland fire suppression serves to protect human life, property,
    and natural and cultural resources from the adverse effects of
    unwanted fire.

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-   Non-fire applications (manual and mechanical) serve to maintain
    defensible space around structures located within the 14-acre Carter
    Compound, to which this fire management plan specifically pertains.
    (As discussed in section 3.4, this 14-acre site is the only area
    within the park with vegetation capable of sustaining a wildland
    fire.)

**3.0 [WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES]{.underline}**

**3.1 General Management Considerations**

At JICA, all wildland fire, regardless of ignition source, will be
suppressed. Non-fire applications will be used to maintain defensible
space as necessary around structures within the Carter Compound.

The park's fire management goals, which follow, incorporate JICA's
overall management objectives as well as previously-discussed federal
fire management policy principles and goals, including firefighter and
public safety, collaboration, and accountability.

**3.2 Wildland Fire Management Goals**

Fire management goals at JICA are:

-   Suppress all wildland fire in a cost-effective manner, consistent
    with resource objectives, considering firefighter and public safety
    (always the highest priority), and values to be protected.

-   Use non-fire applications (manual and mechanical) as necessary to
    maintain existing defensible space around structures located within
    the Carter Compound.

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-   Provide park employees with fire operations training and experience
    so as to develop fully-qualified personnel.

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-   Manage all wildland fire incidents in accordance with accepted
    interagency standards, using appropriate management strategies and
    tactics, and maximizing efficiency via interagency coordination and
    cooperation.

-   Maintain existing cooperative agreements with state and local fire
    management agencies in order to facilitate close working
    relationships and mutual cooperation regarding fire management
    activities.

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-   Develop and conduct a monitoring program with recommended standard
    monitoring levels commensurate with the scope of the fire management
    program, and use the information gained to continually evaluate and
    improve the fire management program.

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-   Integrate knowledge gained through natural resource research into
    future fire management decisions and actions.

-   Maintain the highest standards of professional and technical
    expertise in planning and safely implementing an effective fire
    management program.

-   Plan and conduct all fire management activities in accordance with
    all applicable laws, policies and regulations.

-   Incorporate the minimum impact suppression tactics policy into all
    suppression activities, to the greatest extent feasible and
    appropriate.

**3.3 Scope of Wildland Fire Management Elements to be Implemented**

JICA will implement a combination of wildland fire suppression, and
non-fire applications.

**3.3.1 Wildland Fire Suppression**

A wildland fire is defined as any nonstructural fire, other than
prescribed fire, that occurs in the wildland. All wildland fires at
JICA, regardless of origin, will be suppressed.

**3.3.2 Non-Fire Applications**

JICA will utilize non-fire applications (manual and mechanical
techniques) as necessary to maintain existing defensible space around
structures located within the Carter Compound.

**3.4 Park Description**

**3.4.1 Physical and Biotic Characteristics**

**3.4.1.1 Real Property**

Jimmy Carter National Historic Site and Preservation District is located
in southwest Georgia, approximately 35 miles north of Albany, Georgia,
on U.S. Highway 280. Portions of the historic site are located within
the incorporated city limits of Plains, Georgia. The entire park is
located within Sumter County. The legislation that established JICA
includes four key sites that the National Park Service is mandated to
preserve: the railroad depot (1976 Carter presidential campaign
headquarters), the boyhood farm, the Plains High School building, and
the current residence of Jimmy and Rosalind Carter on Woodland Drive
(hereinafter referred to as the Carter Compound). Of these sites, the
only one with vegetation capable of sustaining a wildland fire is the
Carter Compound. This fire management plan, therefore, specifically
pertains to that 14-acre area. A structural fire plan in accordance with
Director's Order #58 will pertain to the Carter residence itself and all
other structures within the park. Due to its small size and uniformity,
the Carter Compound will be managed as a single fire management unit.

The Carter Compound, located on the western edge of the town of Plains,
contains the Carter residence and attached garage, and a Secret Service
facility. A paved driveway links the home to Woodland Drive, which
accesses the tract from State Highway 280. Woodland Drive is maintained
by the City of Plains. The Woodland Drive right-of-way is 22.5 feet from
the centerline.

**3.4.1.2 Soils**

Soils in the area are generally deep and well-drained, with
reddish-brown sandy loam or loamy sand surface layers over yellowish-red
to dark red sandy clay loam or sandy clay subsoils. These soils are
highly erodible when the protective vegetative cover is disturbed.

**3.4.1.3 Air Quality**

JICA is designated a class II air shed under the Clean Air Act. Under
class II, modest increases in air pollution are allowed beyond baseline
levels for particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen and nitrogen
dioxide, provided that the national ambient air quality standards,
established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are not
exceeded.

Principal sources of air pollutants in the park vicinity include
industrial emissions, agricultural operations and motor vehicle
emissions.

**3.4.1.4 Vegetation**

Vegetation within the Carter Compound consists of a mature oak-hickory
association, and regularly mowed grass.

**3.4.1.5 Wildlife**

## 

The terrestrial wildlife species at the 14-acre Carter Compound are
typical of those inhabiting the region, including white-tailed deer,
squirrels, skunks, opossums, armadillos, raccoons, eastern cottontails,
and mice. Birds there include sparrows, mourning doves, mockingbirds,
warblers, bobwhite quail, owls and hawks. Amphibians common to the area
are various species of frogs and toads. Reptiles include various species
of snakes and lizards.

**3.4.1.6 Threatened and Endangered Species**

Coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Georgia
Department of Natural Resources revealed that no federally- or
state-listed threatened or endangered species are known to inhabit the
Carter Compound, nor does any known critical habitat exist there.

**3.4.2 Specific Fire Management Objectives**

Specific fire management objectives are:

-   Conduct initial attack within 10 minutes of the time a wildland fire
    report is received.

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-   Control 100% of all wildland fires during initial attack.

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-   Maintain existing defensible space (minimum of 30 feet) around
    buildings within the Carter Compound via non-fire applications
    (manual and mechanical).

**3.4.3 Management Considerations**

-   Ensure that firefighter and public safety remains the primary
    consideration in planning and conducting all fire management
    activities.

-   Ensure that the park's listing in the National Register of Historic
    Places is considered in planning and conducting all fire management
    activities.

-   Ensure that smoke management is considered in planning and
    conducting all fire management activities.

-   Ensure that all applicable laws, policies and regulations are
    considered in planning and conducting all fire management
    activities.

-   Ensure that socio-political economic impacts are considered in
    planning and conducting all fire management activities.

-   Ensure that appropriate fire prevention and suppression actions are
    included in the right-of-way plans of development/vegetation
    management/contingency documents associated with and required for
    electrical transmission lines located on agency land.

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-   Ensure that fire management activities are coordinated as
    appropriate with all affected parties. This includes any federally
    recognized Indian tribes that have historical, cultural, economic or
    other interests in the proposed action or its effects (required, for
    example, by 36 CFR 800, 40 CFR 1508, and 43 CFR 10).

**3.4.4 Past Role of Fire**

Ecological and meteorological evidence indicates that lightning-caused
fires were a major environmental force shaping the vegetation of North
America for millions of years prior to human habitation (Van Lear and
Waldrop 1989). Fire-adapted ecosystems developed, as did individual
plant species dependent upon or adapted to wildland fire. According to
fire ecologist Dr. Cecil Frost (1998), "...fire once played a role in
shaping all but the wettest, the most arid, or the most fire-sheltered
plant communities of the United States."

While it is difficult to substantiate purposeful landscape burning by
American Indians from the archeological record, diaries, letters,
reports, and books by eyewitnesses of Indian fire use from the 1600s to
the 1900s have yielded considerable evidence that American Indians did
use fire to modify ecosystems (Barrett 1980, 1981; McClain and Elzinga
1994; Russell 1983; Whitney 1994), with profound cumulative effects on
the landscape. At the time of European contact, many eastern deciduous
forests were open and park-like, with little undergrowth (Bonnicksen
2000, Day 1953, Olsen 1996). Says Charles Kay (2000), "...the only way
for eastern forests to have displayed the open-stand characteristics
that were common at European settlement is if those communities had
regularly been burned by native people as part of aboriginal land
management activities."

As per chapter 25 (Background Paper: Fire in Southern Forest Landscapes)
of the USDA Forest Service General Technical Report entitled *The
Southern Forest Resource Assessment Summary Report* (2002):

> To appreciate the pervasive role of fire in shaping southern forests
> requires an understanding of the dynamic response of southern
> ecosystems to climate change since the retreat of the Laurentide Ice
> Sheet, which began around 18,000 years ago, and the extent of human
> influence, which likely began about 14,000 years ago. Humans exert an
> influence by igniting or suppressing fires. Native Americans used fire
> extensively for thousands of years. The early European settlers
> continued and to a degree expanded the use of fire. In the last
> century, however, human influence over fire in the South changed
> markedly.
>
> We have divided the long history of fire since humans arrived in the
> South into five periods:

-   From the earliest appearance of humans in North America around
    14,000 years ago (Fagan 2000) until European contact 500 years ago,
    the first period was one of increasing human population level and
    more extensive use of fire.

-   For the first 400 years after their arrival, the early European
    settlers continued to use fire in much the same way as Native
    Americans, often reoccupying and farming land cleared by Native
    Americans and expanding burning of woodlands to provide forage for
    livestock (Williams 1992).

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-   At the end of the 19th century and extending into the 20th century,
    the remaining southern forests were extensively logged to support
    economic expansion; wildfires were common in the slash left behind.
    In reaction to these widespread and destructive wildfires, the
    fourth period of fire suppression started in the early 1900s.

-   The current period is one of fire management, in which the natural
    role of fire is increasingly recognized and incorporated into forest
    management.

The specific fire history of the 14-acre Carter Compound is unknown.
Since the park entered National Park Service administration in 1987, no
known wildland fires have occurred there.

**3.4.5 Wildland Fire Management Situation**

**3.4.5.1 Historical Weather Analysis**

The park's climate is generally warm and humid. Summer temperatures
average about 80° F, with highs into the 90s; winter temperatures range
from 35° to 60° F. The frost-free period averages 240-250 days per year,
between mid-March and mid-November. Annual rainfall ranges from 40 to 54
inches and is spread throughout most of the year; the driest months are
October and November. Prevailing winds are from the north and northwest
during the winter, from the southwest during the spring and fall, and
from the west during the summer.

Historic weather data from Macon, Georgia, approximately 80 miles to the
northeast, serve as a reasonably accurate indication of historic weather
patterns of the park area.

For the 53-year time period from 1949 to 2001, the average mean
temperature, as indicated in Figure 3, was 65° Fahrenheit. While there
have been mild warming and cooling cycles (normal occurrences, according
to Kevin Scasny, fire weather meteorologist), the temperature has
remained fairly constant, with no discernible overall warming or cooling
trend since 1949.

![](media/image3.jpeg){width="7.370138888888889in"
height="4.670833333333333in"}Figure 3:

The average annual mean precipitation from 1949 to 2001, as indicated in
Figure 4, was approximately 45 inches. The linear red trend line
indicates mild precipitation increases and decreases (again, normal
occurrences, according to Kevin Scasny, fire weather meteorologist).

![](media/image4.jpeg){width="7.479861111111111in"
height="4.7034722222222225in"}Figure 4:

Figure 5, based upon the same historic weather data from Macon,
indicates monthly temperature and precipitation norms.

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height="2.9006944444444445in"}Figure 5:

**3.4.5.2 Fire Season**

There are two fire seasons in the park area, one in the spring from
February 1^st^ to May 15^th^, and the other in the fall from October
1^st^ to December 15^th^, determined by historic fire occurrence in the
local area. Lower levels of precipitation in the fall and early spring,
combined with higher levels of dead or dormant fuels result in the
lowest annual fuel moisture rates, and a subsequently higher probability
of ignition. Available fuels during these time periods include 1-hour
through 1000-hour timelag. However, wildland fires can occur throughout
the year at the Carter Compound.

**3.4.5.3 Fuel Characteristics and Fire Behavior**

The primary fuel types represented at JICA have been classified
according to the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) and the
Northern Forest Fire Laboratory Fire Behavior Prediction System (FBPS)
(Deeming et al 1978:30, Anderson 1982). Acreages were determined via
Geographic Information System.

-   [Fuel Model E]{.underline}: This model, and FBPS fuel model 9,
    represent hardwood stands after leaf fall (coinciding with the
    park's fall fire season). Leaf litter is the primary fuel. High
    winds will cause higher rates of spread than predicted because of
    spotting caused by rolling and blowing leaves. Concentrations of
    dead-down woody material can contribute to possible torching out of
    trees, spotting, and crowning activity. Fires run through the
    surface litter faster than fuel model R and have higher flame
    height. In the summer after the trees have leafed out, fuel model E
    should be replaced by fuel model R.

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-   [Fuel Model R]{.underline}: This model, and FBPS fuel model 8,
    represent hardwood stands after the canopies leaf out in the spring
    (coinciding with the park's spring fire season). Slow-burning ground
    fires with low flame lengths are generally the case, although the
    fire may encounter an occasional "jackpot" or heavy fuel
    concentration that can flare up. Only under severe weather
    conditions involving high temperatures, low humidities, and high
    winds do the fuels pose fire hazards.

Fuel model E/R composes approximately nine acres within the 14-acre
Carter Compound. The remaining acreage consists of a .8-acre pond, and
approximately four acres of regularly manicured grass, with scattered
trees.

Table 1 illustrates historic fire weather parameters at "average" and
"extreme" levels for the park fire seasons.

Table 1: Historic Fire Weather Parameters for JICA Fire Seasons
(February 1 -- May 15; October 1 -- December 15) NFDRS Station 095001

  ----------------------- ----------------------- -----------------------
  Fire Weather/Behavior   Average Fire Season     97th Percentile Fire
  Parameter               Weather                 Season Weather

  Wind speed              3 miles/hour            6 miles/hour

  Temperature             78 degrees Fahrenheit   92 degrees Fahrenheit

  Relative humidity       38%                     18%

  1-hour fuel moisture    38%                     5%
  ----------------------- ----------------------- -----------------------

Table 2 demonstrates anticipated fire behavior at JICA under these
average and extreme conditions, as well as critical threshold values
influencing fire controllability. The values were calculated using the
BEHAVE (Andrews 1986) fire behavior prediction model utilizing weather
inputs from the McIntyre automated weather station in Dublin, Georgia
(NFDRS station 095001), approximately 90 miles to the east/northeast of
JICA. The weather data utilized cover the four years of 1973, 1974,
2001, and 2002 (further data were unavailable), and the weather indices
were calculated using the Fire Family Plus (Bradshaw 1999) software
package. It should be recognized that the table values are based upon
models rather than direct observation of fire behavior in these fuel
types. As park managers have the opportunity to observe and monitor fire
behavior, these values may be refined and the model calibrated to better
reflect local fuel and weather conditions.

### The park uses the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) as its primary drought indicator, which, based upon the level, indicates low to extreme drought conditions influencing fire behavior (see section 4.2.2.4.2.2). 

### Table 2: Potential Fire Behavior Under Average and Extreme Conditions

  ------- ------- ----------------- ------------ ----------- ------------ ----------
  NFDRS   FBPS    Fuel              Fire                     Fire         
  Model   Model   Type/Vegetation   Behavior;                Behavior;    
                                    Average                  Extreme      
                                    Conditions               Conditions   

                                    Flame Length Rate of     Flame Length Rate of
                                    (ft)         Spread      (ft)         Spread

  E       9       Hardwood leaf     1            1 chain/hr               
                  litter after leaf                                       

                  fall                                                    

  R       8       Hardwood leaf     0.5          .2                       
                  litter after                   chains/hr                

                  canopy leaf out                                         
  ------- ------- ----------------- ------------ ----------- ------------ ----------

Average conditions = 1973, 1974, 2001, 2002 NFDRS station 095001 mean
fire season weather conditions

Extreme conditions = 1973, 1974, 2001, 2002 NFDRS station 095001 97%
percentile fire season weather conditions

Assumes maximum spread with 0% slope

Table 3 outlines potential critical weather parameters that would result
in fire behavior exceeding initial attack capabilities (flame lengths
greater than eight feet). These values were calculated using the RX
Window Module of the BEHAVE program (Andrews 1986). Such values are
useful for facilitating recognition of potential extreme fire behavior
conditions. It should be noted that generally two or three weather
parameters must be aligned in order for extreme conditions to result. It
should also be noted that these are modeled values and should serve only
as guidelines. As the opportunity arises, fire monitoring data
collection on wildland fires will facilitate refinement of these values,
as well as development of critical values for additional parameters.
Last, it should be noted that while the values listed will potentially
result in flame lengths greater than eight feet, this does not
necessarily indicate a sustained, uncontrollable wildland fire. Rather,
they indicate that direct attack is not a safe strategy at the head of
the fire. Furthermore, these conditions, particularly wind speed, can
vary greatly within a short time period and be fleeting in nature.

Table 3: Critical Weather Parameters Resulting in Need for Indirect
Attack

  ------- ------- ------------------ ------------ -------------------------------
  NFDRS   FBPS    Fuel               Moisture of  Critical Weather Parameters
  Model   Model   Type/Vegetation    Extinction   Resulting in Fire Behavior
                                                  Exceeding Direct Attack
                                                  Capabilities

  E       9       Hardwood leaf      25%          1-hr fuel moisture \<5% and
                  litter after                    eye-level wind speed

                  leaf off                        \>15 mph.

  R       8       Hardwood leaf      25%          Flame lengths unlikely to
                  litter after                    exceed 8 feet even under

                  canopy leaf out                 extreme conditions
  ------- ------- ------------------ ------------ -------------------------------

Moisture of extinction is defined as the 1-hour fuel moisture upper
limit beyond which the fuels described by the given model will not burn.
One-hour fuel moisture is a function of temperature, relative humidity,
and shading.

**3.4.5.4 Fire Regime Alteration**

As previously stated, vegetation within the 14-acre Carter Compound is
mature oak-hickory. The following description of the hardwoods fire
regime comes from chapter 25 (Background Paper: Fire in Southern Forest
Landscapes) of the USDA Forest Service General Technical Report entitled
*The Southern Forest Resource Assessment Summary Report* (2002):

> The oak-hickory forest type (Barrett 1994, Braun 1950) occurs
> primarily on average to dry upland sites, but it also can be found on
> moist upland sites, depending upon past disturbance history. The
> oak-hickory type historically had an understory fire regime[^1] (Brose
> and others 2001, Van Lear and Waldrop 1989, Wade and others 2000), but
> presettlement fire frequencies are not known. Conservative estimates
> from dendrochronological studies suggest fire return intervals of 2.8
> years (Cutter and Guyette 1994) to 14 years (Buell and others 1954,
> Guyette and Dey 1997). The frequency and extent of Native American
> burning decreased substantially after European contact. As a result,
> forest canopies closed over previously open grasslands, savannas, and
> woodlands (Buckner 1983; Denevan 1992; Dobyns 1983; MacCleery 1993,
> 1995; Pyne 1997). European settlers of oak-hickory forests increased
> the frequency and extent of burning and shortened fire-return
> intervals to 2 to 10 years; they burned many sites annually (Cutter
> and Guyette 1994, Guyette and Dey 1997, Holmes 1911, Sutherland 1997,
> Sutherland and others 1995).
>
> Presently, infrequent low-intensity surface fires during the spring
> and fall characterize the fire regime of oak-hickory forests. These
> fires are caused almost exclusively by humans and burn small areas
> (Barden and Woods 1974, Pyne and others 1996, Ruffner and Abrams
> 1998). Fire exclusion created a fuel complex that is probably very
> difficult to ignite. On drier mountainous sites, fire exclusion allows
> ericaceous shrubs such as mountain laurel and rhododendron to move
> from riparian areas into upland forests (Elliott and others 1999).
> These shrubs are shade tolerant and evergreen, shading the forest
> floor throughout the year. Although the forest floor rarely dries
> enough to support surface fire, the ericaceous shrub layer is
> flammable. When it burns, it typically supports intense crown fires.

At present, the fire regime at the Carter Compound appears to be in
condition class 1[^2], as defined in the USDA Forest Service General
Technical Report entitled *Development of Coarse-Scale Spatial Data for
Wildland Fire and Fuel Management* (2002).

3.4.5.5 Control Problems and Dominant Topographic Features

The terrain of the 14-acre Carter Compound is fairly level. Slope,
therefore, is not a contributing factor to fire behavior there. (See
section 3.4.5.3 for a discussion of park fuel characteristics and fire
behavior, and Table 2 for potential fire behavior under average and
extreme conditions.)

**3.4.5.6 Values to Protect, Manage, or at Risk**

-   [Human health and safety]{.underline}: Firefighter and public safety
    is the highest priority in every fire management activity. In light
    of this:

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-   Only fully qualified (i.e. meeting NPS qualifications and accepted
    interagency knowledge, skills and abilities for the assigned fire
    job), red-carded employees will be assigned fire management duties
    (unless assigned as trainees, in which case they will be closely
    supervised by an individual fully qualified for the given position).

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-   No fire management operation will be initiated until all personnel
    involved have received a safety briefing describing known hazards
    and mitigating actions (LCES)[^3], current fire season conditions,
    and current and predicted fire weather and behavior. Hazards
    specific to the park include:

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-   Snags and dead trees with weak root systems.

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-   Stinging/biting insects and poisonous snakes.

-   Dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

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-   Wildland fire incident commanders will minimize firefighter exposure
    to heavy smoke by incorporating the recommendations outlined in the
    publication *Health Hazards of Smoke* (Sharkey 1997), available from
    the Missoula Technology and Development Center.

-   Park neighbors, visitors and local residents will be notified of any
    fire management events that have the potential to impact them.

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-   Smoke on roadways will be monitored and traffic control provisions
    taken to ensure motorist safety during wildland fires at JICA. The
    following procedures will be taken to compensate for reduced
    visibility when a paved road is affected by smoke (the incident
    commander on a particular event will determine visibility levels):

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-   Posting of "Smoke on Road" signs on either side of the affected
    area.

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-   Reducing the posted speed limit when visibility is strongly reduced,
    and escorting vehicles as necessary.

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-   Closing the road to traffic when visibility is severely reduced.

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-   [Property]{.underline}: The Carter residence and attached garage,
    the Secret Service facility, and adjacent non-agency land will be
    protected during all fire management activities.

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-   [Natural and Cultural Resources]{.underline}: Natural and cultural
    resources will be protected from the adverse effects of unwanted
    fire as well as the adverse effects of fire management activities
    (see section 10.0). During all suppression activities, the minimum
    impact suppression tactics policy will be incorporated to the
    greatest extent feasible and appropriate, employing methods least
    damaging to park resources for the given situation (see section
    4.2.7).

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-   [Air and water quality]{.underline}: The park will comply with the
    Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and all other applicable
    federal, state, and local laws and requirements. Additionally:

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-   The suppression response selected to manage a wildland fire will
    consider air quality standards.

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-   During fire suppression, water will be used in lieu of fire
    retardant.

![](media/image6.png){width="6.740277777777778in"
height="8.727777777777778in"}

**4.0 [WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM COMPONENTS]{.underline}**

**4.1 General Implementation Procedures**

A wildland fire implementation plan (WFIP) will be initiated for all
wildland fires at the park. As nearby Andersonville National Historic
Site (ANDE) administers the fire management program at JICA, the ANDE
fire management officer (hereinafter referred to as the park FMO) is
responsible for completing the [Stage I: Initial Fire
Assessment]{.underline} of the WFIP, which provides the decision
framework necessary for selecting the appropriate management response.
[The Stage I: Initial Fire Assessment]{.underline} includes the [Fire
Situation]{.underline} and the [Decision Criteria
Checklist]{.underline}.

**4.2** **Wildland Fire Suppression**

As per NPS policy (*RM-18*, chapter 9),

> The objective of wildland fire suppression...is to manage wildland
> fires safely and efficiently to accomplish protection objectives. It
> will be integrated into land and resource management plans and
> activities on a landscape scale...and will be based on best available
> science.

**4.2.1 Range of Potential Fire Behavior**

Weather and fuels are the primary influences upon fire behavior at JICA.
Depending upon the season and fire weather conditions, fire behavior can
range from low-intensity to extreme. During a typical year of normal
conditions, most fires should be of low to moderate intensity at the
park, and can be suppressed by direct attack strategies.

During years of drought and/or other abnormal environmental conditions,
such as very high winds, extreme fire behavior can occur at JICA.
Extreme behavior may entail high fire intensity, rapid spread, long
flame lengths, and spotting, precluding direct attack with hand tools.
Brush and vines can act as ladder fuels, facilitating torching, and
resulting in undesirable fire behavior such as excessive scorching.

See Table 1 for historic fire weather parameters for JICA fire seasons,
Table 2 for potential fire behavior under average and extreme
conditions, and Table 3 for critical weather parameters resulting in the
need for indirect attack. See section 3.3.7.4 for park fuel
characteristics and fire behavior.

**4.2.2 Preparedness Actions**

NPS policy requires that every unit with a fire management program
incorporate preparedness considerations into its fire management plan
(*RM-18*, chapter 7, provides guidelines). While there are presently two
fire-qualified staff at JICA, the Plains Volunteer Fire Department will
respond to any wildland fire at the Carter Compound. Preparedness at the
park will involve:

-   Ensuring that JICA has access to additional fire resources as the
    need arises.

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-   Maintaining fire records, weather data, maps and other associated
    information. The park FMO will submit park data annually, including
    daily situation reports during fire events, to the Southeast
    Regional Office FMO for entry into the Shared Application Computer
    System (hereinafter referred to as SACS), or the appropriate
    reporting system. The park FMO will utilize other system options as
    appropriate to maintain data on employee qualifications, hazard
    fuels, FIREPRO, etc.

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-   Providing a dispatch system for mobilizing park wildland fire
    resources to local and out-of-area incidents. In order to facilitate
    rapid and efficient mobilization:

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-   The park FMO will prepare a list of available fire-qualified
    personnel at the beginning of both fire seasons.

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-   All fire-qualified personnel will be provided approved personal
    protective equipment and assigned park radios as available.

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-   Response to fire will take priority over routine, scheduled work
    projects. Meeting park fire suppression needs will take priority
    over out-of-area assignments.

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-   Personnel will receive specific travel, transportation and incident
    information at the time of mobilization.

> Dispatch and mobilization guidelines and procedures are provided in
> the *National Interagency Mobilization Guide* and the *Southern
> Interagency Mobilization Guide*.

**4.2.2.1 Fire Prevention Activities**

As the Carter Compound is closed to the public, public education
regarding the importance of fire prevention there is not an emphasis at
JICA. Fire prevention activities will involve maintaining existing
defensible space as necessary around the Carter residence and attached
garage, and the Secret Service facility (a minimum of 30 feet for each).
In the event of a wildland fire at the Carter Compound, it will be
aggressively investigated both to identify the responsible party, and to
gain information that can be applied to future prevention efforts.

**4.2.2.2 Annual Training Needs of Fire Staff**

NPS fire management training meets criteria specified within the
training curriculum approved by the National Wildland Coordination Group
(NWCG), which is tiered to positions described in the NWCG *Wildland
Fire Qualifications*, *Prescribed Fire Job Qualifications*, and
*Incident Command System Wildland Fire Job Performance* guides. The park
FMO will conduct annual training need analyses, and coordinate training
courses as appropriate. Courses identified will be based upon employee
needs (as reflected in individual employee development plans), park fire
management needs, and regional priorities. Training will be conducted on
an interagency basis to the greatest extent possible. Any
fireline-qualified park staff will receive at least eight hours of
annual safety refresher training (see section 8.1).

The park FMO will submit all pertinent employee data to the Southeast
Regional Office FMO for entry into SACS (or the appropriate reporting
system), and ensure the accuracy and approval of annual red cards.

**4.2.2.3 Annual Equipment and Supply Readiness Procedures**

JICA does not maintain a cache of supplies and equipment. The park FMO
at Andersonville National Historic Site coordinates completion of annual
fire readiness activities, listed with the month(s) that each should be
accomplished, in Table 4.

Table 4: Annual Fire Readiness Activities

  --------------------------------- ----- ----- ----- ------- ----- ----- ------ ----- ------ ----- ----- -----
                                    Jan   Feb   Mar   April   May   Jun   July   Aug   Sept   Oct   Nov   Dec

  Access weather data daily.        x     x     x     x       x     x     x      x     x      x     x     x

  Update park firefighter                 x                                                               
  qualifications.                                                                                         

  Complete park training analysis.        x                                                               

  Fitness test park staff.                x                                                               

  Coordinate fire training.               x                                                               

  Equip fire-qualified staff with         x                                                               
  PPE as needed.                                                                                          

  Issue updated red cards.                x                                                               

  Coordinate annual refresher             x                                                               
  training.                                                                                               

  Update interagency agreements.                                                                          x

  Review fire management plan and                                                                         x
  program.                                                                                                
  --------------------------------- ----- ----- ----- ------- ----- ----- ------ ----- ------ ----- ----- -----

**4.2.2.4 Fire Weather and Fire Danger**

**4.2.2.4.1 Weather Station**

The park FMO will access weather data from Georgia Forestry Commission
Web site <http://weather.gfc.state.ga.us./Maps.html>, which provides
pertinent fire danger parameters for general and specific geographical
areas within the state, daily (1300 EST) observation maps (including
fire danger ratings for those areas), and twice-daily forecast maps.

**4.2.2.4.2 National Fire Danger Rating System**

The National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) enables a land management
unit to determine fire danger based upon an evaluation of the upper
limit of predicted fire behavior. Calculations of fire behavior are
based on fuels, topography and weather. NFDRS outputs give relative
ratings of potential wildland fire growth and behavior. The Georgia
Forestry Commission uses the burning index (also the NPS standard) as
its primary day-to-day indicator of the potential amount of effort
needed to suppress a single fire in a particular fuel type within a
given area, and the Keetch-Byram Drought Index as its primary drought
indicator.

**4.2.2.4.2.1 Burning Index**

The burning index (BI) is a number on an open-ended scale (although
typically between 0 and 100), expressing the potential amount of effort
needed to suppress a single fire in a particular fuel type within a
given area. BI is based upon fuel model, fuel moisture, and current and
forecasted weather parameters. As the BI increases, expected fire
intensity increases. The higher the expected fire intensity, the more
effort that will be necessary for fire suppression.

4.2.2.4.2.2 Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI)

The KBDI is a mathematically-calculated drought indicator relating to
the amount of moisture in the top seven inches of soil or duff. It
ranges from 0-800, with 0 being saturated and 800 indicating maximum
drought. Drought directly influences the flammability of all
fuel/vegetation complexes (as drought progresses the upper soil layers
dry, increasing the amount of dead and cured live fuels available for
consumption), which in turn influences fire behavior and control
efforts. For a description of fire behavior and effects that can be
expected at increasing levels of drought in the southeast, see Web site
[http://www.tncfire.org/resource/keetch.htm](http://flame.fl-dof.com/Env/RX/kbdisuppress.html).

**4.2.2.5 Step-Up Staffing Plan**

Figure 7, below, is an example of a fire danger map that the Georgia
Forestry Commission Web site <http://weather.gfc.state.ga.us./Maps.html>
provides daily, and which the park will use to ascertain fire danger for
the given day. According to Jim Paul of the Georgia Forestry Commission,
break points were established via a Fire Family analysis, and fire
danger levels 4 and 5 calculated at the 90^th^ and the 97^th^
percentiles, respectively. (Conditions exceeding the level 4 parameters
should occur only 10% of the time, and conditions exceeding the level 5
parameters should occur only 3% of the time.) NFDRS fuel model 1988 C
(grass underneath open timber, the standard fuel model that the Georgia
Forestry Commission uses for fire danger determination in central
Georgia) was utilized. As previously stated, the Plains Volunteer Fire
Department will respond to any wildland fire at the Carter Compound. The
park has no firefighting equipment/readiness activities that would
factor into a traditional step-up staffing plan.

Figure 7:

![](media/image7.png){width="6.0in" height="7.709722222222222in"}

**4.2.3 Pre-Attack Plan**

*RM-18*, chapter 7, provides a pre-attack planning checklist that will
serve as a reminder of various elements to be considered at the park (as
applicable) upon reaching fire danger levels 4 and 5.

**4.2.4 Initial Attack**

In the case of a wildland (or structural) fire at the park, JICA
maintains a Memorandum of Agreement with the Plains Volunteer Fire
Department (PVFD), who, upon notification, will respond. In coordination
with the park FMO, the PVFD will develop an appropriate management
response to the incident, organize and direct the fire resources on hand
toward safe, efficient implementation of that response, monitor the
effectiveness of the suppression tactics, and adjust strategy and
tactics accordingly. The PVFD will be responsible for the fire until it
is out or until being relieved of duty via a formal command change.

As previously discussed, a wildland fire implementation plan (WFIP) will
be initiated for all wildland fires at the park. The park FMO is
responsible for completing [Stage I: Initial Fire
Assessment]{.underline} of the WFIP, which provides the decision
criteria necessary for determining the appropriate management response.

**4.2.4.1 Information Used to Set Initial Attack Priorities**

The goal in all initial attack actions is to suppress the fire in a
cost-effective manner, consistent with resource management objectives.
Initial attack priorities at JICA are tiered to firefighter and public
safety (the highest priority in every fire management activity), and the
threat that the wildland fire poses to park values. Factors considered
in assessing the degree of threat that the fire poses include the fire
location, fuels, current and forecasted weather, and current and
predicted fire behavior.

**4.2.4.2 Criteria for Appropriate Initial Attack Response**

The appropriate initial attack response will be determined from an
analysis of the given situation, and must be consistent with the park's
statement for management and resource management objectives. Factors
dictating the appropriate management response include firefighter and
public safety, fire location, current and predicted fire weather/fire
behavior, values at risk, cost-effectiveness, and potential adverse
effects of both the fire and suppression efforts.

**4.2.4.3 Confinement as a Suppression Strategy**

Although confinement may be implemented as a suppression strategy as
long as it is not used to meet resource objectives, it will probably not
be used at the Carter Compound, due to the small size of the tract (14
acres), and the structures at risk (the Carter residence and attached
garage, and the Secret Service facility) within the Compound.

**4.2.4.4 Typical Fire Response Time**

Regardless of the time of year, the Plains Volunteer Fire Department's
response time to a wildland fire at the Carter Compound should take no
more than 10 minutes from the time the fire report is received.

**4.2.4.5 Restrictions and Special Concerns**

Chainsaws, hand tools and drip torches may be used at any time for fire
management purposes. Fire engines or slip-on units may be used as water
sources, and will be kept on existing roads. Water will be used in lieu
of fire retardant. Heavy equipment such as bulldozers and plows for
constructing fireline will not be used. Fireline explosives will not be
used.

**4.2.4.6 Work / Rest Guidelines, Rest and Recuperation**

The *Interagency Incident Business Management Handbook* (chapter 10,
section 12.6) provides comprehensive direction on work/rest guidelines
and rest and recuperation.

**4.2.5 Extended Attack and Large Fire Suppression**

Considering the small size of the Carter Compound (14 acres), it is
highly unlikely that an extended attack situation would occur here.

**4.2.6 Minimum Impact Suppression Tactics**

NPS policy requires fire managers and firefighters to select management
tactics commensurate with a fire's existing or potential behavior, but
which cause as little impact to natural and cultural resources as
possible. All suppression activities at JICA will therefore incorporate
the minimum impact suppression tactics policy, to the greatest extent
feasible and appropriate for the given situation. Examples of minimum
impact suppression tactics that will be implemented include:

-   Keeping fire engines or slip-on units on existing roads.

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-   Not using heavy equipment (bulldozer, plow) for constructing
    fireline.

-   Not using fireline explosives.

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-   Using existing natural fuel breaks and human-made barriers, wet
    line, or cold trailing the fire edge in lieu of fireline
    construction whenever possible.

-   Keeping fireline width as narrow as possible when it must be
    constructed.

-   Avoiding ground disturbance within known natural and
    archeological/cultural/historic resource locations. When fireline
    construction is necessary in proximity to these resource locations
    it will involve as little ground disturbance as possible and be
    located as far outside of resource boundaries as possible.

-   Using water instead of fire retardant.

-   Using soaker hose, sprinklers or foggers in mop-up; avoiding boring
    and hydraulic action.

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-   Minimizing cutting of trees.

-   Scattering or removing debris as prescribed by the incident
    commander.

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-   Protecting air and water quality by complying with the Clean Air
    Act, the Clean Water Act, and all other applicable federal, state,
    and local laws and requirements.

*RM-18*, chapter 9, provides minimum impact suppression tactics
guidelines.

**4.2.7 Rehabilitation Guidelines and Procedures**

Fire rehabilitation involves short-term actions (generally 0-6 months)
to stabilize a burned area and mitigate the effects of fire suppression
activities. Immediate rehabilitation actions to prevent further land
degradation or resource loss, or to ensure safety, may be undertaken as
part of the incident. Rehabilitation action at JICA will typically
involve removing any trash and debris from an incident location and
along the fireline.

**4.2.8 Reporting and Documentation**

When JICA reaches fire danger levels 4 or 5, or upon confirmation of a
wildland fire on park land, the park FMO will notify the Southeast
Regional Office FMO of such at the earliest possible time. During a fire
event, the park FMO will submit a daily situation report to the
Southeast Regional Office FMO for entry into SACS (or the appropriate
reporting system). The park FMO will also complete a final record for
each wildland fire, to be kept on file at JICA, which will include:

-   Individual fire report DI-1202

-   Narrative

-   Wildland fire implementation plan

-   Daily weather forecasts and spot weather forecasts

-   Cumulative fire map showing acreage increase by day

-   Total cost summary

-   Monitoring data

**4.3 Non-Fire Fuel Treatment Applications**

As previously stated, the park will use non-fire applications (manual
and mechanical) as necessary to maintain defensible space of at least 30
feet around structures located within the Carter Compound. This will
primarily consist of raking hardwood litter away from the structures,
and scattering it outside of the defensible space. It may be necessary
on occasion to use a chainsaw to limb trees, or cut hazard trees. All
non-fire applications will be conducted in compliance with NEPA, NHPA,
and other legal requirements.

**4.3.1 Equipment and Seasonal Use Restrictions**

Section 4.2.4.5 discusses equipment restrictions pertaining to fire
management activities at the park.

**4.3.2 Effects Monitoring**

The park will coordinate effects monitoring with Southeast Regional
Office fire staff.

**4.3.3 Project Critiques**

Southeast Regional Office fire staff will review and critique ongoing
projects (as necessary) at the park, ensuring that the non-fire
applications program is meeting its objectives, and that projects are as
cost-effective as possible for the given objectives and circumstances.

**4.3.4 Cost Accounting**

Maintenance of defensible space is an ONPS-funded activity.

4.3.5 Reporting and Documentation

The park FMO will document all non-fire applications at the park, and
report accomplishments to the Southeast Regional Office FMO for entry
into SACS (or the appropriate reporting system).

**4.4 Emergency Rehabilitation and Restoration**

Burned area emergency stabilization and rehabilitation actions are
intended to protect public safety, stabilize and minimize unacceptable
change to biotic communities, improve ecosystem structure and function
according to approved field unit management plans, and repair or replace
minor facilities damaged or destroyed by a wildland fire. Burned area
rehabilitation (BAR) subactivity funds can only be used for treatments
on agency lands within the perimeter of the fire or impact area
downstream from the burned area. The use of BAR funding is further
limited based on treatment effectiveness and to improve economic
efficiencies. The Interagency Burned Area Emergency Stabilization and
Rehabilitation Handbook provides treatment guidance and standards.

**5.0 [ORGANIZATIONAL AND BUDGETARY PARAMETERS]{.underline}**

**5.1 Fire Management Team Member Responsibilities**

## 

As previously stated, the fire management program at JICA is
administered by Andersonville National Historic Site (ANDE). Fire
management team member responsibilities at ANDE are described in section
5.1 of the 2003 Andersonville National Historic Site Fire Management
Plan.

**5.2 FIREPRO Funding**

FIREPRO funds are separate from the ONPS appropriation, and must be
utilized for fire-dedicated functions. Base funding needs are calculated
each year through the FIREPRO funding analysis. All positions
base-funded by FIREPRO will remain dedicated to wildland fire
management, with at least 80% of their normal tour-of-duty spent on
wildland fire activities. FIREPRO provides funding for fire planning and
oversight functions, budgeted activities necessary to prepare for the
normal fire year, and for the development and implementation of the
wildland fire suppression, emergency rehabilitation, and hazard fuels
reduction programs. FIREPRO-funded fire management program elements
include (see *RM-18*, chapter 18, for element details):

-   Preparedness

-   Prescribed fire management

-   Wildland fire management

-   National resource crews

-   Step-up plans

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-   Severity

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-   Emergency rehabilitation

-   Hazard fuels reduction operations

**5.3 Interagency Coordination**

The park coordinates with the Plains Volunteer Fire Department, the
Georgia Forestry Commission (Sumter County), the Georgia Interagency
Coordination Center, and local law enforcement (see *RM-18*, chapter 5,
for authority and guidelines regarding interagency coordination).

### **5.4 Interagency Contacts**

### 

### Georgia Forestry Commission, Sumter County, (229) 931-2511

### Georgia Interagency Coordination Center, (770) 297-3036

### Plains Volunteer Fire Department, (229) 824-5000

Sumter County Sheriff's Department, (229) 924-4094

**5.5 Fire-Related Agreements**

JICA maintains a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Plains Volunteer
Fire Department. The park superintendent and FMO will review this MOA
annually and update it as necessary. A statewide reciprocal fire
protection MOU is currently under development between the National Park
Service and the Georgia Forestry Commission. Appendix 13.5 includes
copies of fire-related agreements.

JICA has no structural firefighting capability. All structural fire
events at the park will be referred to the Plains Volunteer Fire
Department. The JICA Emergency Response Plan is filed onsite.

**6.0 [MONITORING]{.underline}**

**6.1 NPS Fire Monitoring Handbook**

NPS policy requires managers to monitor the effects of all wildland and
prescribed fires. Monitoring directives, summarized here from
*Director's Order #18* are:

-   Fire effects monitoring must be done to evaluate the degree to which
    objectives are accomplished.

-   Long-term monitoring is required to document that overall
    programmatic objectives are being met and undesired effects are not
    occurring.

-   Evaluation of fire effects data is the joint responsibility of fire
    management and natural resource management personnel.

JICA will conduct its fire monitoring program in accordance with the
*NPS Fire Monitoring Handbook* *2001 (FMH 2001)*, which outlines
standardized methods to be used for monitoring wildland fires.
Monitoring protocols will be reviewed and approved at the Southeast
Regional Office level before receiving funding. The park FMO will
coordinate with the Southeast Regional Office Fire Ecologist to
establish monitoring plots at select locations within the Carter
Compound.

**6.2 Recommended Standard Monitoring Levels**

*FMH* *2001* provides recommended standards, divided into four
monitoring levels, which constitute the lowest level of fire monitoring
to be conducted by NPS units. Table 5 illustrates how these monitoring
levels correspond to the given park management strategy.

Table 5: Management Strategies and Recommended Standard (RS) Monitoring
Levels

  ------------------------------------------------------ ------------------
  **Management Strategy**                                **RS Level**

  Suppression: All management actions are intended to    **1.
  extinguish or limit the growth of                      Environmental**

  the fire.                                              **2. Fire
                                                         observation**

                                                         **-
                                                         Reconnaissance**

                                                         \- Fire conditions

  Prescribed fire: Management uses intentionally set     **1.
  fires as a management tool to meet                     Environmental**

  management objectives.                                 **2. Fire
                                                         observation**

                                                         **-
                                                         Reconnaissance**

                                                         **- Fire
                                                         conditions**

                                                         **3. Short-term
                                                         change**

                                                         **4. Long-term
                                                         change**
  ------------------------------------------------------ ------------------

\*Bold face print in RS level column indicates mandatory monitoring for
the given management strategy.

**6.3 Wildland Fire Monitoring**

As indicated, wildland fire suppression requires level 1 and the first
stage of level 2 monitoring. Level 1 monitoring, coordinated by the park
FMO, involves environmental or planning data that provide the basic
background information needed for decision-making when a wildland fire
occurs. The reconnaissance stage of level 2 monitoring, also coordinated
by the park FMO, provides a basic overview of a fire event. Monitoring
the effect of suppressed wildland fire on vegetation or other
area-specific variables can identify specific threats to park resources,
facilitate adjustments to suppression actions, and identify the need for
a rehabilitation response.

**7.0 [FIRE RESEARCH]{.underline}**

The park's resource management plan indicates no specific fire research
necessary to implement or refine the fire management program.

**8.0 [FIREFIGHTER AND PUBLIC SAFETY]{.underline}**

**8.1 Firefighter Safety and Related Training, Qualifications, and
Fitness Standards**

Firefighter and public safety is the first priority in every fire
management activity. Agency administrators at all levels must stress
that firefighter and public safety ***always*** takes precedence over
property and resource loss. This policy will be emphasized throughout
all suppression operations at the park.

The NPS wildland fire training, qualification, and certification system
meets or exceeds all National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG)
standards. Only fully qualified (i.e. meeting NPS qualifications and
accepted interagency knowledge, skills and abilities for the assigned
fire job), red-carded employees will be assigned fire management duties
(unless assigned as trainees, in which case they will be closely
supervised by an individual fully qualified for the given position). All
personnel (including emergency hire firefighters) engaged in fireline
operations must have completed a minimum of 32 hours of basic wildland
fire training, including the modules on basic firefighting, basic fire
behavior, and standards for survival[^4]. The park FMO will coordinate
at least eight hours of mandatory annual safety refresher training for
all JICA staff likely to be on the fireline.

All fire-qualified park staff will be equipped with approved personal
protection equipment (PPE), and trained in its proper use. Operational
personnel on wildland fires are required to use the PPE. Mandatory PPE
includes:

-   8" high, laced, leather boots with lug soles

-   Fire shelter

-   Hard hat with chin strap

-   Goggles/safety glass

-   Ear plugs

-   Nomex shirt and trousers

-   Leather gloves

The NPS *Wildland Fire Qualification System Guide* contains a
supplemental list of PPE. Special PPE and hazard analysis is required
for operations involving fuel gelling agents, fireline explosives,
aircraft (particularly helicopters), and chainsaw operations.

Prior to and throughout all suppression operations at the park, fireline
supervisors will cover safety factors with incident personnel, via
operational briefings beforehand, and safety briefings that occur during
the incident. No NPS employee, contractor or cooperator will ever be
intentionally exposed to life-threatening conditions (see *RM-18*,
chapter 3, for further safety-related planning and operational
guidelines).

NPS policy requires that all personnel (including emergency
firefighters) engaged in suppression and prescribed fire duties meet the
physical fitness standards set by the NWCG. Physical fitness/work
capacity levels for wildland firefighters and other fire-qualified
employees will be determined by the "pack test" series of tests.
Descriptions of the three work capacity levels (light, moderate and
arduous), as well as medical and physical fitness requirements and
procedures are outlined in the NWCG *Wildland Fire Qualifications
Subsystem Guide*.

**8.2 Public Safety Issues / Concerns, and Mitigation Procedures**

Under no circumstances will an individual be permitted near a wildland
fire at JICA without the appropriate training and required personal
protective equipment (PPE). Members of the press will be allowed in the
vicinity of a fire only if they are determined to meet the standards
established for the light fitness rating, wear the required PPE, and are
accompanied by a trained, qualified firefighter who can assist them.

Every effort will be made to inform the general public of the situation
and evacuate the area, if necessary. If a fire threatens to escape park
boundaries, adjacent authorities and landowners will be given as much
advance warning as possible so that they may take appropriate action.

Smoke on roadways will be monitored and traffic control provisions taken
to ensure motorist safety during wildland fires at JICA. The following
procedures will be taken to compensate for reduced visibility when a
paved road is affected by smoke (the incident commander on a particular
event will determine visibility levels):

-   Posting of "Smoke on Road" signs on either side of the affected
    area.

-   Reducing the posted speed limit when visibility is strongly reduced,
    and escorting vehicles as necessary.

-   Closing the road to traffic when visibility is severely reduced.

**9.0 [PUBLIC INFORMATION AND EDUCATION]{.underline}**

As previously discussed, the 14-acre Carter Compound is the only area at
JICA with vegetation capable of sustaining a wildland fire. As the
Carter Compound is closed to the public, public information/education
regarding the importance of fire prevention there is not an emphasis at
the park.

**10.0 [PROTECTION OF SENSITIVE RESOURCES]{.underline}**

**10.1 Archeological / Cultural / Historic Resources**

As previously stated, the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site is part of
the larger Jimmy Carter Historic Preservation District (JCNHSPD),
together consisting of a number of overlapping local, state and federal
designations. In 1978, the General Services Administration requested and
received a Determination of Eligibility for the Plains Historic District
from staff attached to the National Register of Historic Places. The
boundaries established conformed to those of an earlier local historic
district. The National Register of Historic Places, in cooperation with
the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office, placed the Plains
Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places on June
28, 1984. On December 23, 1987, the 100^th^ Congress of the United
States passed Public Law 100-206, establishing the JCNHSPD with
additional sets of boundaries and scenic easements. In June 1990, state
historic preservation staff attached to the Middle Flint Area Planning
and Development Commission and the City of Plains expanded the local
district designation to include all buildings and areas within the
corporate limits of Plains. As of June 1991, five overlapping yet
separate districts and designations, each with their own regulations and
boundaries, had been adopted to comprise the legislative parameters of
Plains historic preservation: the local historic district; the National
Register District; the federal National Historic Site (the park,
administered by the NPS); the federal Plains Preservation District; and
various federal scenic easements. The local district has adopted a
historic preservation ordinance with a review commission. The National
Register District operates under a number of federal enabling statutes,
as does property within the National Historic Site District; both have
Advisory Boards that monitor their actions. The National Register
designation also entails cooperative administration with the State
Historic Preservation Office. Scenic easements, when negotiated, operate
under a separate strata of federal legislation and legal agreements with
property owners. All actions and designations are based in various
pieces of national, state and local historic preservation legislation.
Administrative boards include the Plains Historic Preservation
Commission, the Plains Historic Trust, the Plains City Council, the
Middle Flint Regional Planning Commission, the Jimmy Carter National
Historic Site Advisory Board, and the National Park Service Advisory
Council. A listing of specific structures and sites designated as
important to the interpretation of the story of the Carters and Plains
is on file at the park.

There are no known significant archeological sites within the Carter
Compound that would be affected by fire management activities. The park
will incorporate archeological/cultural/historic resources protection
into fire management in a variety of ways. For example:

-   The park resource management specialist will coordinate with the
    Southeast Archeological Center to ensure that JICA has the most
    current data regarding archeological resources within its
    boundaries. S/he will provide recommendations on how to mitigate
    adverse effects to these resources during fire management
    activities, and will coordinate compliance with Section 106 of the
    National Historic Preservation Act, as appropriate.

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-   Buildings within the Carter Compound (see section 10.3 for
    descriptions) will be protected from wildland fire via the
    maintenance of defensible space around each (a minimum of 30 feet).

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-   During all suppression activities, the minimum impact suppression
    tactics policy (see section 4.2.7) will be incorporated to the
    greatest extent feasible and appropriate for the given situation.
    Tactics directly or indirectly facilitating the protection of
    archeological/cultural/historic resources include:

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-   Keeping fire engines or slip-on units on existing roads.

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-   Not using heavy equipment (bulldozer, plow) for constructing
    fireline.

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-   Not using fireline explosives.

-   Using existing natural fuel breaks and human-made barriers, wet
    line, or cold trailing the fire edge in lieu of fireline
    construction whenever possible.

-   Keeping fireline width as narrow as possible when it must be
    constructed.

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-   Avoiding ground disturbance within known
    archeological/cultural/historic resource locations. When fireline
    construction is necessary in proximity to these resource locations
    it will involve as little ground disturbance as possible and be
    located as far outside of resource boundaries as possible.

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-   Using soaker hose, sprinklers or foggers in mop-up; avoiding boring
    and hydraulic action.

**10.2 Natural Resources**

The park will incorporate natural resources protection into fire
management in a variety of ways, including minimum impact suppression
tactics. The tactics listed in 10.1 as directly or indirectly
facilitating the protection of archeological/cultural/historic resources
also facilitate the protection of natural resources. Additional tactics
include:

-   Avoiding ground disturbance within known natural resource locations.
    When fireline construction is necessary in proximity to these
    resource locations it will involve as little ground disturbance as
    possible and be located as far outside of resource boundaries as
    possible.

-   Using water in lieu of fire retardant.

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-   Minimizing cutting of trees.

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-   Protecting air and water quality by complying with the Clean Air
    Act, the Clean Water Act, and all other applicable federal, state,
    and local laws and requirements.

The ANDE resource management specialist will coordinate with the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure that JICA has the most current data
regarding identified sensitive, proposed, and listed species, as well as
any proposed or designated critical habitat areas within monument
boundaries. S/he will provide recommendations on how to mitigate adverse
effects to these resources during fire management activities, and will
coordinate compliance with Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, as
appropriate.

**10.3 Development / Infrastructure**

Development within the Carter Compound includes the Carter residence
with attached garage, and a Secret Service facility. These buildings
will be protected from wildland fire via defensible space around each (a
minimum of 30 feet), resulting from non-fire applications.

President and Mrs. Carter's home was constructed in 1962, and is the
only home they have ever owned. It is a one-story brick veneer,
ranch-style home of functional design occupying 3,379 square feet. A
1,389 square-foot patio is located to the rear of the house. The home
was modified in 1974 with the conversion of the garage to a study, and
the construction of a separate garage with a second story guest room
(900 square-foot floor). In 1981, the new garage was converted into a
woodworking shop. A few minor changes to the interior structure of the
home have occurred since 1981. A major interior decorating change was
made in 1985. In 1992, the kitchen was remodeled.

Located approximately 200 feet to the south of the Carter residence is a
frame house built in the 1920s, which serves as a Secret Service
facility. The yard is fenced to the south, east and west, but the area
between the house and the Carter residence is open. A gate house and
double wooden gate closes Woodland Drive at its intersection with
Highway 280, located to the south.

**11.0 [FIRE CRITIQUES AND ANNUAL PLAN REVIEW]{.underline}**

**11.1 Critiques**

As per NPS policy, the park superintendent or designee will conduct a
post-fire critique of every wildland at JICA, involving as many
personnel who participated in the incident as possible. The critique
will follow *RM-18* (chapter 13) guidelines, and will cover all aspects
of the incident, including safety, tactics, difficulties encountered,
areas needing improvement, and whether or not specified objectives were
met. The information gathered from these critiques will be used to
continually improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the fire
management program. The critique will be attached to the associated
DI-1202 fire report as a permanent record, and stored in park fire
files.

As previously stated, firefighter and public safety is the first
priority in every fire management activity. Any incident which results
in human entrapment, serious injury, fatalities, or near-misses, will be
investigated and reviewed, with appropriate administrative action taken
based upon investigation results. Additionally, the park superintendent
may request a regional-level review of any incident in which:

-   The fire crosses park boundaries into another jurisdiction without
    the approval of the adjacent landowner or agency.

-   The park receives adverse media attention.

-   Significant property damage occurs.

-   Controversy involving another agency occurs.

The Southeast Regional Office FMO will conduct an in-depth review of any
wildland fires involving a type I or type II team.

**11.2 Annual Plan Review**

The park FMO will review the fire management plan annually and identify
any changes that should be made to improve the effectiveness of the
plan. The park superintendent will approve significant changes to the
body of the plan (excluding grammatical corrections, minor procedural
changes, deletions, corrections, and additions to the appendices). The
park FMO will promptly forward copies of all changes to the Southeast
Regional Office FMO for review and comment. Changes requiring approval
will be submitted with a new cover sheet for signatures and dates, which
will replace the original cover sheet.

A formal plan review will be conducted every five years, and the plan
revised to incorporate any policy changes that have occurred in that
five-year period.

**12.0 [CONSULTATION AND COORDINATION]{.underline}**

The following individuals provided information, assistance, and guidance
in the preparation of this plan:

### Fred Boyles, Superintendent, Andersonville National Historic Site

### Clint Cross, Wildland Urban Interface Coordinator, Southeast Regional Office 

Dean Gettinger, Fire GIS Specialist, Southeast Regional Office

#### Alan Marsh, Resource Management Specialist, Andersonville National Historic Site

#### Lamar Melton, Fire Management Officer, Andersonville National Historic Site

#### Caroline Noble, Fire Ecologist, Southeast Regional Office

### Jim Paul, Meteorolgist, Georgia Forestry Commission

Kevin Scasny, Fire Weather Meteorologist, Southern Area Coordination
Center

### Kevin Walsh, Prescribed Fire Specialist, Southeast Regional Office

[^1]: ^1^ As per this report, fires in the understory fire regime do not
    kill the dominant vegetation or substantially change its structure.
    Approximately 80 percent or more of the aboveground dominant
    vegetation survives fire (Brown 2000).

[^2]: ^2^

    ^2^ Fire regimes are within an historical range, and the risk of
    losing key ecosystem components is low. Vegetation attributes
    (species composition and structure) are intact and function within
    an historical range. Where appropriate, these areas can be
    maintained within the historical fire regime by treatments such as
    fire use.

[^3]: ^3^

    ^3^ LCES is an acronym intended to remind firefighters of the four
    key elements associated with firefighter safety: Lookouts,
    Communications, Escape Routes, and Safety Zones.

[^4]: ^4^ An exception to this is the Plains Volunteer Fire Department,
    whose members adhere to state-determined standards during the first
    operational period of a wildland fire (beyond that, they must adhere
    to NWCG standards).