United States 

Department of 

Agriculture

Forest Service

FS-885

July 2007

Fire and Aviation 

Management

Fiscal Year 2006

in Review
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, 

color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual 

orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any 

public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative 

means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center 

at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 

Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an 

equal opportunity provider and employer.
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review iii

Each year brings new challenges and new accomplishments. Fire and 

Aviation Management (FAM) had a very busy and productive fiscal year 

2006. In light of a very active wildland fire season, which set new records 

in both the number of reported fires and acres burned, we are proud of our 

many accomplishments. 

FAM is adapting to the changing wildland fire situation in the United 

States. Recent trends indicate that wildfires in the United States have 

become larger and more intense, and costs to taxpayers are increasing. 

More people are at risk, loss of life and property are increasing, and natural and cultural resources are 

more vulnerable to wildfire. In 2006, nearly 10 million acres of land were burned by wildfires, including 

2 million acres on National Forest System lands. Wildfires in 2006 resulted in the highest acreage 

burned in recent U.S. history; it is alarming because this excess of damage has been much more typical 

of the average fire season experienced in the last decade than in the last century. 

Significant causes of these trends can best be attributed to wildland-urban interface (WUI), 

weather, and wood. The WUI is expanding. In the 1990s, more than 8.4 million homes were added to 

the WUI, representing more than 60 percent of new homes constructed in the United States during 

that period. Many of these new homes are located in or adjacent to fire-prone areas, which have high 

wildfire potential. In addition, weather and moisture patterns are changing in many of our Nation’s 

fire-prone areas, and woody materials (hazardous fuels) in the Nation’s forests continue to accumulate 

despite significant progress in programs to reduce those fuels. This triad of WUI, weather, and wood 

creates an environment in which the number of fires continues to increase, resulting in escalating costs 

of wildfire suppression; in 2006, FAM spent $1.5 billion to fight fires.

Letter From the Director
iv Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

To help combat these challenging conditions, additional wildland fire analysis tools and information are coming on line. Information such as that provided by LANDFIRE, a data set of nationally 

consistent, geospatially referenced information with relevance to wildfire risk and values at risk, has 

enabled scientists to develop better predictive models so decisionmakers can better weigh various management options. These decision support tools can help clarify funding priorities and examine options 

for fire management strategies and tactics.

Federal wildland fire policy establishes that the protection of human life is the number one priority 

in wildland fire management. The second priority is the protection of property and natural/cultural 

resources. As we move into a risk management approach to setting suppression priorities and making 

operational decisions, our commitment to firefighter and public safety will remain steadfast. So that 

employees and our partners can fully understand our foundation for judgment, decisions, and behavior, 

the Forest Service is moving into a doctrinal approach for fire management and other agency activities. 

Those who understand the complexity of fire situations and management operations also understand 

the need for wide discretion to address those complexities by various programs and at different incident 

management levels. A regulatory approach to situational management can quickly become overwhelmed 

by the complexities encountered, whereas the doctrinal approach will create an organization guided by 

well-stated doctrinal principles, which represent the reality of the work, the environment, and the mission.

Partnerships among Federal, State, tribal, and local firefighting agencies are expanding and will 

help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of wildland fire management across all ownerships. All 

levels of government are assisting communities in the preparation and implementation of Community 

Wildfire Protection Plans as encouraged by the Healthy Forests Restoration Act. The Wildland Fire 

Leadership Council recently completed an update to the 10-Year Comprehensive Strategy Implementation Plan that identifies multijurisdictional objectives; implementation actions; and performance metrics 

for suppression, hazardous fuels treatment, restoration of fire-adapted ecosystems, and community 

assistance for the Nation. Federal and State partners are also working to resolve questions about suppression responsibility in the WUI and about suppression cost-share agreements.

Finally, the key variable we can affect is the condition of the land. As we restore ecosystems to 

conditions that are more “fire friendly,” we make a long-term, positive change in the asset with which 

we’ve been entrusted—the land. 

We certainly have plenty of challenges ahead, but with our talented, dedicated employees and 

continued interest in and support of our programs, we will continue to make progress. I look forward to 

continuing to work with you to meet the challenges in the years ahead.

Tom Harbour
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

Letter From the Director..................................................... iii

Fire and Aviation Management Overview and Highlights...1

Overview ..............................................................................1

Highlights of FY 2006 Accomplishments............................1

Part I. Fire Operations...........................................................3

Fire Season 2006 ..................................................................3

Forest Service Doctrine ........................................................4

Risk Management (Safety)...................................................5

Human Performance (Training) ...........................................6

Equipment and Chemicals....................................................7

Preparedness Resources and Facilities.................................8

Part II. Aviation ......................................................................9

Strategic Plan for Use of Aviation Assets in Wildland Fire 

Management.....................................................................9

Aviation Foundational Doctrine.........................................10

Competitive Sourcing-Feasibility Study ...........................10

Continuing To Implement the National Transportation 

Safety Board Recommendations....................................10

Award for Enhancement of Automated Flight Following...10

Development of a Second Firewatch Helicopter................11

Part III. Partnerships ...........................................................13

All-Hazards Support to the National Response Plan..........13

Fire Prevention Education Teams and Mobilization 

Guide..............................................................................14

Ad Council Wildfire Prevention Campaign .......................14

Firewise Program ...............................................................15

State Fire Assistance ..........................................................16

Community Wildfire Protection Plans...............................16

Volunteer Fire Assistance ..................................................17

Federal Excess Personal Property Program........................17

Department of Defense Firefighter Property Program ......18

Fire Management Today Publication.................................18

Restoring Fire Adapted Ecosystems: A Cooperative 

Project of the Forest Service, the Department of the 

Interior, and The Nature Conservancy...........................18

Part IV. Fuels and Fire Ecology ..........................................19

Hazardous Fuels Reduction and Restoration Treatments...19

New Prioritization and Allocation Methodology ...............20

LANDFIRE ........................................................................20

Planning for Fuels Treatments ...........................................21

Woody Biomass Grants......................................................21

Strategic Placement of Treatments ....................................22

Smoke Management...........................................................22

Part V. National Fire Plan....................................................23

Update of the 10-Year Implementation Plan .....................23

Healthy Forests Review......................................................23

Integration of Vegetation Treatment Programs..................23

2006 FACTS Transition .....................................................24

Other NFP Accomplishments.............................................25

Part VI. Planning and Budget..............................................27

Program Assessment Rating Tool ......................................27

Fire and Aviation Performance Measures..........................27

Accountability and Program Oversight..............................28

Fire Program Analysis........................................................28

Cost Containment...............................................................29

Wildland Fire Decision Support System............................30

Part VII. Focus Areas for 2007............................................31

Wildland Firefighting.........................................................31

Aviation..............................................................................31

Partnerships........................................................................32

Fuels and Fire Ecology.......................................................32

Planning and Budget ..........................................................32

Contents
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review 

Overview

The Fire and Aviation Management (FAM) Staff resides 

within the State & Private Forestry (S&PF) deputy area. 

The program’s primary areas of responsibility include fire 

operations, hazardous fuel reduction, aviation, national fire 

plan, partnerships, and planning and budget. In fiscal year (FY) 

2006 the program leadership and their staff were responsible 

and accountable for an appropriated budget of approximately 

$660 million for preparedness, $690 million for suppression, 

$280 million for hazardous fuels reduction, and $54 million for 

community assistance programs. 

FAM touches activities in many S&PF areas, as well as 

the National Forest System (NFS) deputy area. FAM Staff 

is guided by the principles of innovation, execution, and 

discipline. The following objectives are of primary importance:

• Leading the way in developing and maintaining a safe, 

highly trained, world class fire management organization.

• Improving effectiveness and efficiency in fire 

management through management efficiencies. 

• Developing and implementing the Fire Suppression 

Foundational Doctrine as well as other doctrines.

• Ensuring that integration continues with NFS program 

areas and that restoration of forests and rangelands 

remains a high-priority focus for the agency as a whole.

Highlights of FY 2006 Accomplishments

FAM continues to work with our 

internal and external partners to 

implement the President’s Healthy 

Forests Initiative (HFI). In FY 2006, 

FAM reviewed the Healthy Forests 

Initiative/Healthy Forests Restoration 

Act (HFRA) programs and identified barriers and made 

recommendations for increasing the use of HFI/HFRA tools. 

Recommendations from the review will improve awareness and 

understanding of the tools among field personnel. 

In FY 2006, the Forest Service, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA), Wildland Fire Management Program 

underwent an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 

Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) reassessment for 

the FY 2008 budget cycle. The PART rating indicates how 

well a program is performing and how effectively tax dollars 

are being spent. The rating is critical because it plays a part in 

OMB’s budget allocation decisions. The recent reassessment 

noted that the program had improved its performance measures, 

independent evaluations, and management deficiencies. These 

improvements resulted in a passing rating of “Adequate.” This 

was a significant step up from the program’s 2002 rating of 

“Results Not Demonstrated.”

During FY 2006, in partnership with the Department of 

the Interior (DOI), Western Governors’ Association, and many 

other stakeholders, FAM staff continued working to update the 

10-Year Comprehensive Strategy Implementation Plan, which 

was finalized in December 2006. The updated plan focuses on 

a collaborative framework essential for success and sets forth 

desired outcomes, performance measures, and responsibilities 

for tasks identified.

In partnership with NFS, FAM hosted the first integration 

workshop in Ocala, FL, for the Washington Office and regional 

directors of Forest Management; FAM; and Watershed, Fish, 

Wildlife, Air & Rare Plants Staffs. FAM’s deputy chief and the 

NFS deputy chief participated in this workshop to demonstrate 

their commitment to and leadership of program integration 

across deputy areas and throughout the agency. As a result of 

the workshop, national program staffs and regions are looking 

for and finding new ways to integrate their decision and 

management processes, which will help leverage scarce funds 

for greater accomplishments.

Fire and Aviation Management Overview and Highlights
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review 

The Operations program located at the National Interagency 

Fire Center (NIFC) consists of the National Interagency 

Coordination Center (NICC), National Interagency Incident 

Communications Division (NIICD), and the Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS). Other functions that reside 

in the Operations program include equipment and wildland fire 

chemicals, the National Wildfire Coordinating Group training 

branch support, national incident business management, 

coordination of national and international agreements, national 

firefighting contracting, and public affairs operations. Providing 

focus to the regions on cost management is a top priority. Fires 

are suppressed at minimum cost, considering firefighter and 

public safety, benefits, and values to be protected, consistent 

with resource objectives. Fires are analyzed for the appropriate 

management response (AMR), which includes a variety of 

options from full suppression to wildland fire use (WFU). 

FAM also provides training and experience opportunities 

to cooperators using the Incident Command System on Forest 

Service incidents. Cooperators that have received training 

include the New York City Fire Department, the USDA Animal 

and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and local fire department personnel through the 

U.S. Fire Administration.

FAM promotes safety and effective operations by sponsoring the FAM doctrine, a philosophy of risk management. 

Specifically, it is the body of principles, the foundation of 

judgment, decisionmaking, and behaviors that guide the action 

of the organization, and it describes the environment in which 

actions are taken.

Fire Season 2006

Fire activity in 2006 was above normal by nearly every 

standard. Fire danger escalated early in the year in the Southern 

and Midwestern United States, where nearly 25 percent of the 

country was affected by moderate to extreme drought. Texas, 

Oklahoma, and Arkansas began burning actively in late 2005, 

and by the end of February 2006 the acres burned in these areas 

totaled approximately 360 percent of the 10-year average of the 

number of acres burned per year. In Texas, nearly 1.5 million 

acres burned and 238 homes were destroyed. 

The Southwest had a very active fire season in the spring 

due to below-normal rain and snow and abundant carryover 

fuels from 2005. In the Northwest, the month of June was very 

hot and dry, which rapidly melted the snowpack, causing fuels 

at higher elevations to dry more quickly and the fire danger to 

increase earlier than normal in the year. Dry lightning storms in 

July sparked an unusual number of wildfires in California and 

throughout the Great Basin in Nevada, Utah, and Idaho. Dry 

conditions in June and July also led to a large fire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota. 

Wildland fires continued to burn the drought-affected areas of 

California into early December, and the fires were exacerbated 

by extremely strong Santa Ana winds.

Some 2006 season highlights include the following:

• It was the driest winter on record for Arizona and the 

second driest for New Mexico. It was also the warmest 

summer on record for Nevada, the second warmest for 

Wyoming, and the third warmest for Idaho and California. 

Nationally, 2006 was the second warmest summer on 

record and had the hottest temperatures on record from 

January through August.

Part I. Fire Operations

Night burnout operation, Siskiyou National Forest.
 Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

• On July 29, NICC elevated the National Preparedness 

Level to 5, indicating that available firefighting resources 

were extremely limited with 57 active large fires in nine 

geographic areas.

• Agreements with Australia, New Zealand, and Canada 

were activated in August. About 270 firefighting personnel 

from Canada and 115 from Australia and New Zealand 

deployed to fight the fires. This international support 

provided primarily skilled, midlevel fire managers to 

supervise firefighting crews.

• On August 13, the U.S. Army’s Task Force Blaze, with 

500 firefighters, was assigned to the Tripod Complex 

Wildland Fire in eastern Washington.

• During the year, four military C-130 aircraft equipped 

with the Forest Service’s Modular Airborne FireFighting 

System were deployed in the Southwest, the Great Basin, 

and the Northwest.

• The Forest Service spent nearly $1.5 billion suppressing 

fires across the country. The total area burned for 2006 was 

a record 9.8 million acres, of which 4.8 million acres were 

on State and private land.

Forest Service Doctrine

In January 2006, the Forest Service publicized that it is embracing 

a philosophy of risk management known as doctrine. Foundational 

doctrine is the body of principles and the foundation of judgment, decisionmaking, and behavior that guides the action of 

an organization and describes the environment in which actions 

are taken. These principles have application at multiple levels 

within the Forest Service. Some principles are applicable 

across the agency, some are specific to FAM, and others are 

specific to fire suppression activities only. Current policies and 

practices will not be abandoned for doctrine, but revisions may 

occur. The proposals presented in the foundational doctrine and 

the transition to their implementation is evolving and will be 

refined and implemented over time.

Many steps are necessary to make this doctrine the Forest 

Service’s cultural anchor. Forest Service experts in the areas of 

risk management, human performance, and fire safety, together 

with the fire operations safety council, have been assigned 

the task of implementing the doctrine. The doctrine will be 

implemented in three phases. 

• Phase I educates the workforce toward a corporate 

understanding of the core elements. 

• Phase II validates that the doctrine is anchored in the 

mission of the agency. 

• Phase III implements the system by converting doctrinal 

principles into directives that translate to action. 

International agreements supported firefighting during 

the 2006 fire season.

Firefighter felling a hazard tree.
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

FAM is currently reaching out to its interagency, State, 

and tribal partners in fire management to explain the doctrine 

and its meaning. The FAM Staff will begin working with 

these partners to develop an interagency operational doctrine 

designed to guide application of these principles on the fireline. 

More information on doctrine can be found at http://www.

fs.fed.us/fire/doctrine/index.html. 

The Risk Management program is revising the Forest 

Service Manual FSM 5100 in its entirety. The revision will be 

completed in FY 2007 by incorporating doctrinal principles 

and will include moving processes out of the manual and into 

guides and handbooks. Interagency efforts in this area have 

accomplished the insertion of doctrine in the “Redbook.”

Information of doctrine in the interagency Redbook can 

be found at: http://www.nifc.gov/red_book/2007/Chapter01.pdf 

and http://www.nifc.gov/red_book/2007/Chapter05.pdf.

Risk Management (Safety) 

The Fire Operations Risk Management program is focused 

on human performance in the fire environment, whether it 

is prescribed fire, wildfire, or fire use. The purpose of the 

program is to develop critical decisionmaking and leadership 

skills in fire management personnel at all levels; these skills 

are often called upon in the dynamic worlds of wildland fire 

and all-hazard incident management. Coupled with this focus 

on human performance is the development of systems within 

which emergency incident management personnel are able to 

perform their tasks in an independent manner, guided primarily 

by doctrine and their expressed leader intent.

Another element of the fire operations risk management 

program is the close integration of both the Federal and State 

fire management communities in the development and implementation of firefighter and fire operations safety programs and 

initiatives. These elements are focused on firefighter performance and tactical/operational issues affecting firefighter safety.

As evidenced by Forest Service activities in response to its 

obligations under the National Response Plan, fire operations 

risk management personnel are crucial in providing coordination and oversight of Incident Management Team (IMT) 

activities on the ground. The safety and occupational health 

expertise necessary to provide comprehensive attention to the 

hazards associated with such a disaster is held within the safety 

and occupational health community. In the Hurricane Katrina 

response, members of the Forest Service’s Office of Safety and 

Occupational Health community were fully integrated into the 

effort and were directed and coordinated by fire operations 

safety personnel who are trained and experienced in incident 

management.

Aviation safety, much like fire operations safety, is focused 

on the management of systems—systems associated with 

cockpit management and the decisionmaking skills of aviators. 

Aviation safety, due to the highly technical nature of the activity, is also heavily involved with the investigations of aircraft 

accidents and incidents, coordinating closely with the National 

Investigators measure scrape marks on the helicopter’s 

main rotor blade, after emergency landing.

Fire managers investigate the emergency landing of a 

helicopter after sudden engine failure.
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration in the accomplishment of this task.

With regards to health and fitness and ensuring FAM 

employees are physically qualified and healthy for appropriate 

fire management activities, the Forest Service is participating in 

the Interagency Medical Standards program, along with its four 

partner agencies in the DOI. In 2006, FAM screened 6,441 Forest Service employees for arduous firefighting duty through this 

program. Some permanent employees were found to have medical issues requiring further review (34 percent). Regions 1, 2, 

6, and 10 completed implementation of this program. Program 

implementation will continue each fiscal year until all regions 

are implemented in 2010. This program is an important step 

in protecting employees’ health and in limiting the agency’s 

liability if individuals with preexisting medical conditions were 

placed in arduous jobs in the high-risk firefighting environment.

Human Performance (Training)

The FAM Human Performance program worked with Forest 

Service interagency partners to continue training wildland fire 

personnel during FY 2006. FAM provided $650,000 in monetary support and worked with the Fire and Aviation Diversity 

Committee on attracting and retaining minorities. The Washington Office sponsored a $300,000 leadership course contract 

for Fireline Leadership and Incident Leadership. By delivering 

up to 15 courses under a single contract, the Washington Office 

saved $100,000 in eliminating overlapping administrative costs.

FAM also worked with the USDA’s Office of Inspector 

General (OIG) to implement firefighter-qualifications-related 

recommendations stemming from a recent OIG audit and 

assisted with qualifications reviews. FAM successfully incorporated the Interagency Aviation Training system, in cooperation 

with the DOI, and provided basic aviation safety training for 

approximately 3,500 personnel. Through the University of California–Davis extension program, FAM initiated a new program 

to provide university-level aviation education; 25 Forest Service 

personnel successfully completed the 5-week course, which 

culminated in the issuance of an Aviation Safety Certificate and 

credits in the university system.

Many other training and performance projects assist in 

meeting the agency’s fire suppression and fuels missions. 

A number of these projects are essential to a safe and effective 

approach in meeting agency goals and supporting our State, 

DOI, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) partners. 

A few of these projects are listed below.

• Continued to clarify and adjust the Interagency Fire 

Program Management (IFPM) implementation.

• Developed justification for changing senior firefighter 

position standards from Incident Commander Type 

5 (ICT5) and Firefighter Type 1 (FFT1) to ICT5 or

FFT1.

• Assisted in developing guidance on positive education 

qualification criteria.

• Assisted in formally defining secondary position 

experience prerequisites.

Human performance is an important factor in 

prescribed fires.

Scott Valley Helitack members rappel into typical 

terrain and vegetation on the Klamath National Forest.
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

• Developed long-term strategy for Forest Service 

IFPM crosswalks implementation.

• Disseminated information on the Incident Qualifications 

and Certification System to provide data that helps 

managers identify training and qualifications needs that 

were not available before.

• Assisted in updating the agency’s support for requirements 

for all-hazard responses that were generated by the DHS and 

Homeland Security Presidential Declaration-5 (HSPD-5).

• Partnered with the U.S. Fire Administration on projects 

that will use DHS funds to develop courses and 

competency definitions.

• Worked with the Department of Labor to rewrite standards 

and operations plan for the National Interagency Joint 

Apprenticeship Program.

• Assisted with all-hazard training for the Department of 

Justice.

• Accomplished the following at the National Advanced 

Fire and Resource Institute (NAFRI):

• Provided 10 fire management graduate-level courses 

and hosted numerous meetings.

• Collaborated with Raytheon Corp. to update the 

strategic planning of Lessons Learned Center.

• Hosted education technologies workshop on wildland 

fire distance learning curriculum.

• Provided support to the Quadrennial Fire and Fuels 

Review and the Mega-Fire study.

Equipment and Chemicals

The Equipment and Chemicals program includes the development of equipment standards and specifications for the agency 

and interagency programs, the continued monitoring and 

oversight of the use of wildland fire chemicals, and the review 

and revision of the wildland fire chemical specifications to 

expand competition within the wildland fire chemical industry 

and incorporate newer environmentally safe products for use in 

the suppression of fires. In addition, the equipment and chemicals program oversees the fire and aviation special projects 

that are approved for funding and developed through the two 

Forest Service technology and development centers. The staff 

at these two centers are also a key component to the success of 

the FAM program. They provide regular program support in the 

areas of personal protective equipment and clothing, firefighter 

safety, nutrition and wellness information, national helicopter 

rappel equipment development and manufacturing, oversight 

for the safety aspects of all water handling equipment utilized 

by firefighters in the suppression efforts, and the development 

and maintenance of over 50 specifications for the bulk of the 

equipment used by the Forest Service firefighters as well as all 

Federal and cooperative agencies that assist in the fire suppression efforts. The funding from FAM includes both preparedness 

and hazardous fuels dollars, and each year, the development 

centers provide project updates and accomplishment reports for 

completed projects. 

The following two items addressed the need for a more 

tailored piece of equipment to improve efficiency of burning 

operations and provide for consistent manufacturing and 

procurement of this type of equipment.

• Developed all-terrain-vehicle drip torch.

• Designed and fabricated improved helitorch.

 The end result of these two projects is a safer piece of 

equipment that is much more cost effective to use.

The following section provides a summary of the development centers’ significant accomplishments for the fiscal year as 

directed by fire operations. 

Wildland Fire Chemical Systems Accomplishments 

(Missoula Technology and Development Center)

• Compiled an intensive drop-test evaluation of various gelthickening agents to enhance the rheological properties 

of fire retardants in cooperation with the California 

Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. 

• Compiled an additional assessment of the air-drop 

performance characteristics of four different water 

enhancer products.

San Dimas Technology and Development Center (SDTDC) 

Accomplishments

• Completed drop-testing of the Evergreen Boeing 747 

and the 10 Tanker Air Carrier to gather data on their 

effectiveness.
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

NIFC Equipment and Chemicals Accomplishments

• Continued working with cache strategic task groups to 

develop a strategic plan for the national caches for enhanced 

coordination geared toward better inventory and loss 

reduction. The final plan was submitted to leadership 

in February 2007. The plan was well received and 

adopted for implementation. The focus in FY 2007 is on 

developing the requirements to implement Goal 1, Incident 

Support for FY 2008, and gather the data to move Goal 2, 

focused on the cache infrastructure and most efficient 

organization, forward in the next 2 years.

• Established an interagency fire shelter program task 

group, now chartered under the National Fire and 

Aviation Executive Board (NFAEB), to implement the 

recommendations from the independent review of the 

new-generation fire shelter recall. The task group is 

implementing a life cycle plan that will facilitate fire 

shelter system development and replacement, as well as 

allow for the introduction of new technology through an 

established process and schedule. In addition, the task 

group is developing a communication strategy in order to 

provide the latest and necessary information concerning 

the fire shelter to firefighters. 

Preparedness Resources and Facilities 

In FY 2006, FAM reported an initial attack success rate of 98 

percent for all unwanted fires contained at less than 300 acres. 

Initial attack is the action taken by fire suppression resources 

that are first to arrive at an incident. This achievement is one 

indication of how well FAM has managed its fire preparedness 

activities. These activities incorporate all components necessary 

to prepare for and fight wildland fires, including workforce 

development and training, equipment availability, and facilities 

maintenance. These fire preparedness activities enable Federal 

wildland fire management agencies to strengthen and enhance 

initial attack and fire suppression efforts.

The Forest Service maintained a level of firefighting 

capability that is comparable to levels attained in recent years. 

This goal was accomplished through a combination of local, 

regional, and national preparedness firefighting resources 

and by training and qualifying personnel for their assigned 

positions. FAM firefighting resources (personnel and equipment) continued to be highly mobile within and between 

geographic areas. Such mobility enabled us to be responsive to 

resource prepositioning and suppression needs throughout the 

geographic areas.

FAM successfully used the national and geographic predictive services to anticipate threats, guide the prepositioning of 

firefighting resources, and allocate severity funds from the fire 

suppression account when fire danger or activity was predicted 

to be above normal. These funds were used to expand local resource staffing and bring in additional personnel and equipment.
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review 

Aviation resources in the Forest Service, which are used 

primarily for wildfire suppression, account for approximately 

78 percent of the agency’s 100,000-hour average of annual 

flight hours. Firefighting aircraft are used for command 

and control, intelligence gathering, suppression (retardant 

and water delivery), personnel transportation (e.g., hotshot 

crews), aerial ignition (e.g., burnouts, prescribed fires), and 

resupply. The Forest Service owns approximately 27 aircraft 

ranging from small, single-engine Cessna aircraft to large 

P-3 airtankers. The Forest Service also owns one Bell 206 

helicopter. Approximately 88 percent of the aircraft are 

commercially contracted through exclusive-use or call-whenneeded contracts.

The Forest Service recently acquired four Navy P-3 

aircraft that are being converted into airtankers. These aircraft 

will be owned by the Government and will be piloted by 

contractors. Maintenance will be provided as appropriate from 

private aircraft maintenance sources. 

Cooperative agreements with State and interagency 

partners include 2 exclusive-use CL215 airtankers; 17 exclusiveuse, single-engine airtankers (SEATS); approximately 70 callwhen-needed (CWN) SEATS; and 2 to 3 CWN CL215s. Eight 

Modular Airborne FireFighting System units are also available 

for use in military and National Guard C-130 aircraft. 

Strategic Plan for Use of Aviation Assets in 

Wildland Fire Management

During FY 2006, FAM worked with the National Interagency 

Aviation Committee to prepare the second phase of an 

overarching strategic plan that addresses the interagency 

strategic direction for using aviation assets in fire management. 

The Forest Service has developed a supplement to this plan to 

bring the interagency direction to the agency level. 

The aviation strategic plan mandated by Congress in 

appropriations law developed a national strategy for organizing, 

procuring, and managing aviation resources used in Federal 

wildland firefighting. The plan provides recommendations to 

the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior for the long-term 

strategic direction that will provide guidance for how Federal 

aviation resources will be procured, operated, and managed 

over the next 15 to 20 years. This strategy will ensure a safe, 

efficient, and sustainable national aviation program. The 

strategy addresses the findings of the Blue Ribbon Panel and 

will assist Federal agencies, along with assistance from their 

State and local partners, in successfully meeting the challenges 

of a rapidly changing wildland fire environment.

Part II. Aviation

P-3 airtanker.

One of four MAFFs (modular airborne firefighting 

system) units refurbished in 2006.
10 Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

Aviation Foundational Doctrine

Faced with a trend of increasing complexity and size in 

fire incidents, and undergoing increasing political and 

legal pressures brought on from an ever-increasing body of 

conflicting and competing rules, policies, and guidelines, Forest 

Service FAM recently began a multiyear effort to streamline 

and clarify its principles of operations. 

FAM conducted the Rotor and Wing Conference in 

Stevenson, WA, in January 2006. Attendees at this event 

produced Foundational Doctrine: Fire and Aviation, a 

document establishing and defining foundational doctrine for 

the Forest Service aviation operations. The Forest Service is 

the largest governmental user of aircraft outside of the military. 

Currently under review, this document will eventually be 

integrated with the fire suppression doctrine discussed in the 

operations section above.

Competitive Sourcing-Feasibility Study

The Federal Activities Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act, Public 

Law 105-270, requires agencies to develop inventories each 

year of activities performed by their employees that are not 

inherently governmental, such as commercial activities. The 

FAIR Act further requires OMB to review the inventories, in 

consultation with the agencies, and publish a notice of public 

availability in the Federal Register after the consultation 

process is completed. 

The aviation program completed an interim feasibility 

report of Aviation and Other Airborne Activities, and the 

Management Representative Team briefed the FAM director. 

The study assessed cost effectiveness and efficiency of the 

aviation program and assets, including workload and other data 

requirements necessary for business process reengineering or 

competitive sourcing. 

FAM completed the feasibility study in December 2006, 

which was accepted by the Deputy Chief for S&PF. The deputy 

chief forwarded recommendations from the study to the Chief, 

regional foresters, station directors, and other leadership for final 

review. The Chief accepted the recommendations in May 2007.

Continuing To Implement the 

National Transportation Safety Board 

Recommendations 

In response to several airtanker accidents in 2002, the 

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) made several 

recommendations to the aviation program to improve safety. 

Several of these recommendations have been implemented, but 

in FY 2006 this important work continued as follows:

• Continued implementation of an operational loads program 

for firefighting aircraft.

• Developed a maintenance and inspection program for 

firefighting for the P2V.

• Completed Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 

airworthiness training for all Forest Service maintenance 

inspectors.

• Developed airtanker specifications and structural criteria 

for the future fleet.

These efforts will ensure the health and projected life cycle 

of our current and future fleet by understanding the rigors of the 

firefighting environment (operational loads), communicating a 

definable standard the aircraft must meet before being used, and 

implementing inspection programs that continually monitor the 

aircraft while used in the firefighting role.

Award for Enhancement of Automated Flight 

Following 

Automated Flight Following (AFF), a partnership between 

the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management 

that began in 1999, is a system that automatically tracks and 

displays location and other associated information for aircraft 

on operational missions. Before AFF became operational, 

aircraft on official missions were required to establish positive 

contact under visual flight rules and report aircraft position at 

least once every 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the agency. 

Positive contact occurred through the use of voice radio reports 

to dispatchers tasked with flight following responsibilities, 

who in turn must record the aircraft position, typically by 

hand. The problems with this method were frequent lapses 
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review 

in radio communication coverage and requiring the pilot to 

toggle between different radio frequencies when reporting 

aircraft position. As a result, position reports consumed limited 

radio “air time” and increased workload for both dispatchers 

and pilots involved in other mission activities. The Forest 

Service aviation program and many other agencies that use the 

technology have benefited from AFF through the following:

• Increased safety through timelier, more accurate locations 

for worst case search and rescue.

• Reduced radio traffic in high-demand workloads.

• Increased situational awareness by end users.

• Increased efficiency and effectiveness and reduced costs 

by having near real-time aircraft location information.

• Decreased workload in the aircraft by reducing 

communication requirements, frequency switching, and 

heads-down time.

• Decreased workload and stress levels at the dispatch 

centers.

In FY 2006, a partnership between the AFF system and 

Google Earth was launched, enabling the fire community to 

see 3-D interactive maps instead of the flat, 2-D maps the 

AFF program had used previously. The Google Earth interface 

improves situational awareness for aviation personnel, showing 

changes in ground elevation over satellite images of an area. 

Responders see the aircraft they are tracking in relation to 

the spatial data. The new system also shows temporary flight 

restrictions issued by the FAA, which improves safety of all 

concerned. On October 25, 2006, Government Computer News

gave the Forest Service 1 of 10 agency awards for innovative IT 

accomplishments. Google Earth submitted the nomination. 

Development of a Second Firewatch 

Helicopter

The Firewatch Cobra helicopter is a multifunctional platform 

that, because of its agility and maneuverability, is very suitable 

for detailed viewing of fires. The Forward Looking Infrared 

System and its integrated sensor package, installed on the 

Firewatch Cobra, are capable of displaying enhanced video 

images for fire intelligence gathering and better situational 

awareness to the flight crew and ground fire personnel. This 

information is disseminated through a specially equipped data 

recovery van that receives and transmits the video and cockpit 

audio to an incident base camp via a downlink system. 

This technology enhances the aerial supervisory 

mission, provides incident staff with real-time information 

critical for situational awareness, and permits cost-effective 

decisionmaking. Live video can be sent via downlink to an 

incident command post for immediate interpretation by incident 

staff. Infrared capability allows the image of a fire perimeter 

to be viewed regardless of smoke. Transmission of map data 

can be e-mailed in flight or delivered by removable drive. 

Connecting these technologies in this way is unprecedented and 

enables the incident management team access to intelligence 

never before available.

Screen shot from Automated Flight Following System. Photos courtesy Google Earth.
12 Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

This Firewatch Cobra’s multifunctional platform provides 

services normally provided by two or more aircraft. The 

consolidated missions are Air Attack, Infrared/Remote Sensing, 

and Helicopter Coordinator. Intelligence gathering missions 

normally do not require the commitment of an aircraft for a full 

day, but often, full-day costs are incurred. Operational cost of 

the Firewatch aircraft to the incident is $1,350 per flight hour. 

Currently, two Firewatch Cobras are in service for the 

Forest Service; both are located in the Forest Service Pacific 

Southwest Region. N109Z is based in Lancaster, CA, and 

the N107Z is based in Redding, CA. Maintenance, pilot, fuel 

support, and data van operation services are primarily provided 

by a contract with DynCorp International, LLC.

The Firewatch Cobra helicopter is suitable for viewing 

fires.
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review 

The Partnerships program interacts and coordinates with a 

variety of partners, including the National Association of State 

Foresters (NASF), the Ad Council, the U.S. Fire Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), 

the National Fire Protection Association, and the International 

Association of Fire Chiefs, to name just a few. The Partnerships 

program also coordinates requests for international programs 

and cooperation for FAM.

The program areas consist of Cooperative Fire Protection 

(Volunteer Fire Assistance, State Fire Assistance, Federal 

Excess Personal Property [FEPP], etc.), Fire Prevention, and 

Firewise and Emergency Response (All-Hazards).

All-Hazards Support to the National 

Response Plan

The wildland fire community has a long history of supporting 

all-hazard incidents starting as early as Hurricane Andrew in 

1992. During the period 1993 to 2003, resources were assigned 

to hurricanes (137 days), earthquakes (17 days), floods (60 days), 

terrorist attacks (140 days), animal disease incidents (83 days), 

and debris recovery from the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster 

(197 days).

In addition to anticipating increased wildfire activity, the 

Forest Service can expect further involvement with future 

all-hazard events due to increased hurricane activity, support to 

APHIS (Avian Influenza support and Mad Cow Disease threat), 

pandemic influenza threats, terrorism threats, and the need to 

build National Incident Management System capacity in other 

response agencies.

The 2005 hurricane season (Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, 

Rita, and Wilma) further expanded our involvement. The Forest 

Service provided essential hurricane support personnel for area 

command teams, incident management teams (IMTs), logistic 

management teams, buying teams, work crews, and security 

details. 

Part III. Partnerships

During the peak response on September 30, 2005, 28 IMTs 

and 5,600 total interagency personnel were assigned to the Gulf 

Coast (Florida, Alabama, Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana). 

The Forest Service committed 112 team assignments (type 1, 

type 2, type 3, buying, and logistics), 441 crew assignments, 

and approximately 13,000 personnel to the hurricane efforts. 

Mission assignments for these units included creating and 

managing 21 base camps, 3 evacuation centers, 12 receiving 

and distribution centers, and 3 mobilization centers.

By mid-November 2005, approximately 15,000 personnel 

were committed to the hurricane support efforts. Forest Service 

personnel made up approximately 54 percent of the total hurricane relief workforce. The Forest Service’s costs for these efforts 

totaled approximately $194 million (between September 28, 2005, 

and December 31, 2005).

Interagency fire personnel assisting in 

hurricane response.
14 Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

Fire Prevention Education Teams and 

Mobilization Guide

Developed as a partnership with the National Wildfire Coordinating Group Wildland Fire Education Working Team, the 

Fire Prevention Education Team Mobilization Guide provides a 

systematic approach for ordering teams. The guide establishes 

a 2-week rotation schedule for national teams and ensures that 

at least one team is available and prepositioned to respond to a 

national request at any time within their on-call timeframe. If 

additional teams are needed, they can be ordered by filling each 

team position separately through the Resource Ordering and 

Status System (ROSS). Although some rough spots have been 

encountered with this new system of ordering teams, overall, 

headway has been made. 

The phenomenal productivity of these teams and their 

impact on reducing human-caused fires continue to make them 

in high demand. The National Interagency Coordination Center 

reports that 18 teams were mobilized through the national 

mobilization system. Several local/regional teams have been 

deployed as well. 

Ad Council Wildfire Prevention Campaign

Working closely with the Ad Council, the NASF, and Disney, 

FAM has made huge strides with the Forest Service Wildfire 

Prevention Campaign.

State Forest Service

 funds obligated ($)

Alabama 2,598,000 

Florida 6,128,000

Louisiana 97,765,000

Mississippi 57,693,000

Texas 30,007,000

Forest Service costs for hurricane 

support efforts.

Some hurricane relief highlights include the following:

• In Louisiana and Mississippi, IMTs assisted States 

with debris assessment, initial attack on small fires, and 

development of long-term mitigation and prevention plans. 

In southeast Louisiana, one IMT assisted State and local fire 

service agencies in suppressing 220 fires on 2,796 acres.

• At Gulfport, MS, the IMT managed a base camp that 

supported volunteers, first responders, Red Cross, U.S. 

Navy Seabees, FEMA, Peace Corps, and others. The base 

camp was still supporting 663 personnel and serving 1,650 

meals daily as late as November 15, 2006.

• At St. Gabriel, LA, the IMT managed a base camp that 

provided support to a 100-person Disaster Mortuary 

Support team operating a temporary mortuary.

• As of mid-January 2006, Federal agencies continued to 

assist with the staffing of 14 active mission assignments 

for disaster planning, trailer processing, base camp support, 

fire suppression, and management of evacuee centers in 

Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. 

Interagency fire personnel assisting in hurricane relief. Smokey Bear and Bambi get out the wildfire prevention 

message.
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review 

5

The first quarter of 2006 saw a total of $15,783,000 

donated media, an increase of 127 percent over the previous 

year’s first quarter. Smokey Bear and Bambi-themed ads were 

especially popular. Highlights of the media campaign’s first 

quarter, when compared with the same quarter a year earlier, 

include the following:

• A 279-percent increase in network and local cable 

television-donated media.

• 786,001,413 impressions and 120,064 clicks on various 

Web sites, including the New York Times and National 

Geographic.

• A domination of air play by Spanish radio activity

with the public service announcement (PSA) Ranger & 

Mountain Lion :30.

• An extremely impressive 3,448-percent increase in 

outdoor advertising (billboards, bus stop signs, and mall 

stanchion signs) with unique placements of materials 

at the Tijuana/San Diego border and at the “Zipper” at 

Hollywood and Vine.

The Partnerships program partnered with the Ad Council 

and Radio Disney to increase the awareness of the Ad Council 

campaigns. The Fire Prevention Campaign (Smokey Bear) 

was at the top of Radio Disney’s list as potential campaigns to 

promote. A multilayered program was developed that involved 

theater experiences at community events, concerts at malls, 

goody bag distribution, on-air PSAs, and online links. Smokey 

Bear was the only PSA costumed icon at the “Feelin’ Groovy!” 

mall tours. Uniformed State or Federal forest employees escorted Smokey at these events, adding the benefit of promoting 

government forest agencies as well. 

Firewise Program

During 2006, 82 communities earned Firewise Communities/USA recognition 

status, bringing the total number of recognized communities 

active in the program to 211. This figure represents a growth 

of more than 47 percent from the previous year. Currently, 

33 States have recognized communities and 43 States are 

formally participating. Since its inception in 2002, the Firewise 

Communities/USA recognition program has seen tremendous 

involvement at the State, tribal, and local levels and has driven 

more than $13 million in community investment of time and 

resources in wildfire mitigation. 

The new Firewise Web site, with the Firewise Learning 

Center, was also launched. The Web site contains some new 

features, including a searchable Firewise Library, Firewise 

Article Archive, Spanish translation for the primary areas of the 

Web site, Firewise Chat sessions, and a Web log or “blog” that 

is added to twice a month. On average, the Web site has been 

receiving 860,000 hits per month during 2006.

The Forest Service is also partnering with the media to 

help spread the Firewise message. The Firewise Communities/

USA Media Toolkit was updated and sent to all State liaisons 

and communities. Homeowners are informed of Firewise techniques and mitigation measures they can implement to reduce 

fire ignitions and increase the potential of their home to survive 

a wildfire. In 1 week alone in June 2006, 113 fire-activity 

and/or Firewise-related articles appeared in papers throughout 

the United States. The Forest Service has partnered in the past 

with The Weather Channel to inform viewers of the threat of 

wildfires and the responsible Firewise actions they can make. 

FAM plans to continue this relationship and also to develop new 

media opportunities. In addition, local supporters and States 

continue to conduct workshops. During 2006, an estimated 50 

workshops were held with 3,875 participants who learned about 

Firewise planning.

Program staff published the bimonthly Firewise Newsletter and Wildfire News & Notes in electronic format, both of 

which included numerous articles about Firewise community 

activities, current social and physical science research, wildfire 

response and recovery activities, and Firewise products and 

projects. A “How-To” newsletter was launched and published 

quarterly during 2006. This new product is being directed 

toward residents of Firewise Communities/USA areas and State 

and local representatives.

FY 2006 marked the first year for the Firewise Leadership 

Awards, modeled on the Forest Service’s Smokey awards 

and intended to publicize regional, State, and local wildfire 

mitigation efforts. An interagency review team sifted through 

31 nominations to choose 7 award winners, including municipal 
16 Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

fire departments, local community activists, individual State 

forestry staff members, and statewide programs.

The 2nd National Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Education 

Conference, “Backyards and Beyond,” benefited from Forest 

Service sponsorship and involvement as it drew nearly 450 

participants from 39 States, Canada, Australia, and South 

Africa. The event featured exhibits and posters; more than 75 

educational sessions on wildfire planning; response and mitigation topics; and two 2-day, preconference seminars on wildfire 

hazard assessment and Firewise community planning.

State Fire Assistance

Forest Service funding in 2006 provided in excess of $73 

million for technical and financial assistance to the States for 

all fire management activities, including training, planning, 

NASF

region

States with

CAR list/map

Total

CAR

Communities covered 

by CWPPs

Completed

CWPPs

CWPPs

in progress

West 17 7,034 2,415 641 230

South 13 34,007 431 321 156

Northeast 16 3,123 418 111 43

TOTAL 46 44,164 3,264 1,071 429

Current status of Community Wildfire Protection Plans.

CAR = communities at risk.

CWPP = Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

NASF = National Association of State Foresters.

Aerial view of wildland-urban interface.

hazardous fuel treatments, and the purchase and maintenance 

of equipment. This State Fire Assistance funding assisted 8,102 

communities in the form of risk assessments, fire prevention 

programs, fire management planning, and hazardous fuel 

mitigation projects. An emphasis in funding was placed on 

wildland-urban interface (WUI). The State Fire Assistance program provides key support to successful community programs 

such as Firewise Communities/USA and Fire Safe Councils. It 

will also support an expanded national public service fire prevention program. In addition, many communities and local fire 

departments, in collaboration with State foresters, developed 

community wildfire protection plans (CWPPs) to prioritize 

hazardous fuels treatments and reduce structural ignitability in 

communities that receive support from State Fire Assistance 

funding. State Fire Assistance grants treated approximately 

82,000 acres of hazardous fuels in the WUI, helping to protect 

1,232 communities at risk from catastrophic wildfire. 

Community Wildfire Protection Plans

In FY 2006, FAM provided assistance for hazard assessments 

and funding was provided for Community Wildfire Protection 

Plans (CWPPs) for communities at risk (CAR). CWPPs address 

issues such as wildfire response, hazard mitigation, community 

preparedness, and structure protection. They provide communities with a tremendous opportunity to influence where and how 

Federal agencies implement fuels reduction plans on Federal 

lands and how additional Federal funds may be distributed for 

projects on non-Federal lands. The following chart illustrates 

the current status of CWPPs.
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review 

7

Volunteer Fire Assistance

The Volunteer Fire Assistance (VFA) program provides grants 

to rural and volunteer fire departments that serve communities 

of fewer than 10,000 people. The grants are made by the 

State foresters in each State and funded at a 50-50 cost share. 

Generally, most grants are for less than $5,000 and average 

$2,000 for a fire department. The grants are used for training, 

firefighting equipment, and safety equipment, including personal protective equipment. They are also used for organizing 

fire departments. Application for these funds is made by the fire 

departments to the State forester. In FY 2006, the VFA program 

accomplished the following:

• Increased firefighting capacity by providing technical 

assistance, training, supplies, and equipment to 

approximately 7,200 small, rural communities.

• Provided more than $14 million for technical and financial 

assistance to States to enhance firefighting capacity at 

State and local levels.

• Supported the organization of 45 new fire departments.

Federal Excess Personal Property Program

The Federal Excess Personal Property (FEPP) program allows 

the loan of Forest Service-owned property, including muchneeded equipment and supplies, to State foresters to assist State 

and rural agencies and volunteer firefighters in preparedness 

for suppression and presuppression missions on Federal, State, 

and community lands. Approximately 10 pieces of heavy 

equipment were loaned to State cooperators to help maintain 

and build fire roads. More than 500 trucks and trailers were 

assigned to be equipped with generators and pumps to assist 

firefighters on wildland and brush fires. To save States money, 

the FEPP program provides items from toilet paper to fire 

trucks, thereby allowing substantial savings to the taxpayers. 

For example, the State of Missouri saved more than $40,000 in 

tires alone and another $49,000 in firefighting equipment such 

as boots, fire hoses, and couplings. The State of Idaho saved 

more than $180,000 with the acquisition of a fire truck and 

several pumps.

State foresters and the Forest Service have mutually 

participated in the FEPP program since 1956. Currently the 

FEPP-inventoried property value exceeds $1 billion, with 

152 operable aircraft and more than 40,000 items on Federal 

inventory. In FY 2006, the FEPP program acquired more than 

$36 million worth of fire equipment and supplies to be used for 

firefighting. Inventoried items include aircraft, vehicles, trailers, 

generators, heavy equipment for road maintenance, forklifts, 

and fire boats. Common items that are durable in nature but 

are acquired with an original acquisition cost below $5,000 are 

pumps, tanks, and small generators. Many of these items are 

typically acquired to be placed onto a FEPP vehicle or trailer. 

Consumable, low-dollar property items include vehicle and 

aircraft parts, blankets, boots, gloves, hoses, hand tools, office 

equipment, and construction materials. Currently, 49 States and 

4 territories participate in the FEPP program. 

The FEPP vehicle after restoration, ready to respond to 

fires.

An FEPP vehicle in Oklahoma, before restoration.
18 Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

Department of Defense Firefighter Property 

Program 

The Firefighter Property Program (FFP) is a new authority 

that allows a State to acquire title to excess military equipment 

and then assign that equipment to rural fire departments. The 

Department of Defense (DoD) authorized the Forest Service 

FEPP program to manage the transfer of DoD property through 

a Memorandum of Agreement. 

The major difference between the FFP and the FEPP program is the ownership of the items acquired. All items acquired 

in the FEPP program are property of the Forest Service, while 

items acquired under the FFP belong to the recipient. The FFP 

property is also screened at a higher authority, therefore making 

a better quality and larger quantity of property available for 

the firefighting agencies. Another benefit to this program is 

the ability to acquire items for emergency services as well as 

firefighting. That authority includes items for search and rescue, 

hazardous material spills, and emergency medical service 

(EMS). These functions often fall within the firefighting agencies’ responsibilities but are not applicable to the FEPP program.

Although not every State has signed an agreement with 

the Forest Service to participate under this new authority, new 

agreements are being made steadily, with most States expected 

to be signed up within the next year or two. In the first 5 months 

of the FFP, more than $16 million was acquired from five States. 

Minnesota acquired two fire trucks, which provided a cost 

savings of more than $300,000. Arkansas acquired more than 

150 trucks in 5 months with an original acquisition cost of almost 

$7 million. These free-issue vehicles provide an enormous 

savings to rural and volunteer fire departments. Vehicles are 

refurbished and equipped with pumps and generators to assist 

in rural and wildland firefighting.

Fire Management Today Publication

Founded in 1936, Fire Management Today (FMT) has served 

the wildland fire community for more than 70 years, providing 

information on new techniques, technologies, and ideas. In 

2006, a 108-page Special Issue was published, drawing from 

articles over the past 40 years and focusing on prescribed 

fire case studies, decision aids, and planning guides. Another 

landmark event occurred in 2006 for FMT; all available issues, 

beginning with December 1936 when the publication was 

named Fire Control Notes, have been placed on the FMT Web 

site (http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/fmt/). The 2006 photo contest 

was a huge success, with 424 submissions. 

Restoring Fire Adapted Ecosystems: A 

Cooperative Project of the Forest Service, 

the Department of the Interior, and The 

Nature Conservancy 

The Forest Service, DOI, and The Nature Conservancy have 

worked together for the past several years to accelerate fire restoration across the country in a partnership known as Restoring 

Fire Adapted Ecosystems (RFAE). The partnership is designed 

to advance the common goals of the sponsoring partners and 

focuses on collaborative outreach and education, training, and 

community-based conservation. 

In total, 80 different landscape sites in 34 States have 

benefited from the RFAE partnership by participating in collaborative learning networks. These 80 projects have engaged 

more than 500 different agency, tribal, and private landowner 

partners to advance ecological restoration on more than 90 

million acres. Landscape projects engaged by the network have 

treated more than 450,000 acres and leveraged more than $12 

million to advance on-the-ground restoration. 

More than 900 training opportunities were offered in fire 

effects, fire ecology, and fire operations. In addition, agencies 

developed and began to promote a common fire education message that emphasizes the role of fire in our landscapes.
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review 

Hazardous Fuels Reduction and Restoration 

Treatments

The Hazardous Fuels program integrates fuels reduction 

and vegetation management activities to reduce the effects 

of wildland fire and enhance ecosystem health. The agency 

incorporates the latest science and technology, aggressively 

integrates relevant Forest Service programs, and allocates 

scarce resources wisely. In addition, the Forest Service 

collaborates with interagency and community partners to meet 

Part IV. Fuels and Fire Ecology

the challenge of protecting communities and natural resources 

from the effects of unwanted wildfire.

The objective of the hazardous fuels reduction program, 

as called for in the HFI, is to reduce the undesired effects of 

large, destructive wildfires by reducing the volume of hazardous 

fuels on forest lands, woodlands, shrublands, and grasslands. 

The Hazardous Fuels program focuses on reducing the risk of 

wildland fire and long-term damage to resources and property 

in high-priority areas through vegetation treatment, using 

prescribed fire and mechanical treatment methods.

Acres treated to reduce hazardous fuels and restore fire-adapted ecosystems.a

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Total hazardous fuels acres 1,362,000 1,258,000 1,453,000 1,803,000 1,664,000 1,454,000

WUI 612,000 764,000 1,114,000 1,311,000 1,188,000 1,045,000

Non-WUI 750,000 494,000 339,000 492,000 476,000 409,000

Other programs

Other restoration programsb, c 550,000 730,000 840,000

SFA mitigation grantsc 40,000 136,000 146,000 77,000 82,000

Wildland fire usec 63,000 59,000 291,000 62,000 251,000 171,000

Total HFI and restoration acres 1,362,000 1,258,000 1,453,000 2,561,000 2,722,000 2,547,000

HFI = Healthy Forests Initiative.

SFA = State Fire Assistance.

WUI = wildland-urban interface.

a

 Acres rounded to the nearest thousand.

b Other restoration programs include the Forest Products, Wildlife Habitat, and Forest Health Protection programs.

c

 These activities were not included in national totals before FY 2004 and are presented for information purposes only.

Before fuels reduction. After fuels reduction.
20 Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

In FY 2006, the Forest Service treated 2,547,000 acres to 

reduce hazardous fuels and restore fire-adapted ecosystems. 

Of this amount, the reduction of hazardous fuels on 1,454,000 

acres was accomplished with funds allocated to the Hazardous 

Fuels program; the remaining acres were treated by wildland 

fire use, by States who received State Fire Assistance mitigation 

grants, and by other programs in the Forest Service that work 

with us to restore fire-adapted ecosystems.

New Prioritization and Allocation 

Methodology

During FY 2006, FAM developed a new prioritization 

methodology for the future based on decision support science 

to ensure investments meet national high-priority needs. 

Results from the model informed an integrated Fuels/Forest 

Management budget allocation.

The model evaluates regional fuels needs and opportunities 

based on the following spatial criteria:

• Wildfire Potential—Relative comparison of fire potential 

across the country.

• Negative Consequences (values at risk)—Potential 

consequences associated with catastrophic fire (e.g., WUI, 

smoke).

• Efficiency—Efficiency of hazardous fuels investments 

(e.g., life-cycle costs, biomass opportunity).

• Effectiveness—Relative value of hazardous fuels 

treatments (e.g., impact on expected wildfire behavior).

• Ecological Restoration—Opportunity to integrate and 

align with other programs to accomplish restoration 

objectives (e.g., watershed condition, insect and disease 

outbreaks).

LANDFIRE

LANDFIRE (http://www.landfire.gov) is a multipartner wildland fire, ecosystem, and fuel mapping project that will generate nationally consistent, comprehensive, landscape-scale maps 

and data describing vegetation, fire, and fuels characteristics 

across the United States. These maps are produced at scales fine 

enough for prioritizing and planning specific hazardous fuels 

reduction and ecosystem restoration projects. The consistency 
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review 21

of LANDFIRE methods ensures that data will be nationally 

relevant, while the 30-meter grid resolution supports fire planning; however, products will vary by location and specific use.

In FY 2006, the LANDFIRE project accomplished the 

following:

• Completed 16 of 24 map zones for the Western United 

States, including the following:

• 13 Anderson Fuels Models for Estimating Fire 

Behavior.

• 40 Scott Fuel Models for Estimating Fire Behavior.

• Completed existing vegetation layer for 13 of 24 map 

zones in the Western United States (16 map zones include 

approximately 420 million acres).

• Completed five workshops (Forestry 438: Fuel 

Assessment Techniques Using LANDFIRE Data) and 

trained 160 students through the Technical Transfer. 

(These 160 students will now implement LANDFIRE 

technology within their spheres of influence and train 

their peers and staffs in its use. The goal of LANDFIRE’s 

Technology Transfer is to integrate LANDFIRE data 

and maps into land management agency cultures and 

processes using computer applications such as Geographic 

Information Systems and models such as FlamMap and 

FARSITE.)

• Developed the process for mapping Fire Regimes, using 

plot data for the United States.

Planning for Fuels Treatments

As it was in FY 2006, project planning will continue to be an 

important aspect of the program of work to prepare for fuels 

treatments into the future. Treatments must address high-priority 

needs; include local, citizen-driven solutions; and be completed 

in a manner consistent with land-use plans and environmental 

goals. With an emphasis on WUI treatments, planning and consultation for fuels reduction projects involve more cooperators 

and a higher level of complexity than in the past. 

FAM is working closely with Ecosystem Management 

Coordination land management planning staff to determine 

how to include fire considerations into land management plans, 

including items identified in the cost containment for fire 

suppression recommendations.

Woody Biomass Grants

In 2006, a Forest Service team evaluated 87 proposals for a 

nearly $4.2 million woody biomass grant program. The HFRA 

calls for a grant program to help communities, entrepreneurs, 

businesses, local governments, and others to take residues from 

hazardous forest fuels reduction projects and turn them into 

marketable wood products, including liquid, gaseous, and solid 

fuels for energy.

Selections were based on several criteria, including those 

that remove and use woody biomass while helping to reduce 

the cost per acre for treatments on national forest lands. Woody 

biomass includes tree parts and woody plants—limbs, tops, 

needles—that are byproducts of ecological restoration and 

hazardous fuels reduction treatments. These byproducts can be 

used to generate energy and for a variety of other uses.

Grants were awarded for projects that will help remove 

economic and market barriers in using small-diameter trees 

and woody biomass. Consideration was also given to projects 

that will help revitalize rural communities whose forest-based 

economies have suffered in recent years. All recipients must 

match the Federal portion by at least 20 percent. Together with 

the non-Federal matches, more than $13 million was spent on 

this effort in FY 2006, with 18 grants awarded in Alabama, 

Arizona, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, New 

Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.

Removing woody biomass.
22 Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

Strategic Placement of Treatments

The Forest Service is attempting to increase the use of woody 

biomass from hazardous fuels reduction, restoration, and other 

management activities on public and private lands to help offset 

the costs of these activities, provide economic opportunities to 

rural communities, and enhance environmental benefits for the 

American public. 

To further this effort, 10 teams around the country are 

working on developing Interagency Coordinated Resource 

Offering Protocol (CROP) inventories that provide information 

via the Internet on the amount of biomass that will be offered 

by species and size class within commuting distance of a 

processing facility. This information will encourage economic 

investment in the private sector that will further healthy forest 

goals, including hazardous fuels reduction. 

These CROP inventories can be sharpened by use of a 

Strategic Placement of Treatments (SPOTS) approach in those 

areas where problem fires threaten communities and natural 

resources. SPOTS uses spatial models in a collaborative way 

to evaluate the best possible landscape pattern of fuels and 

other vegetation management efforts to maximize treatment 

effectiveness on the large problem fires, while meeting a range 

of healthy forest objectives. 

An early success came in January 2006, when Governor 

Kulongoski announced a new biomass facility would be built 

in Lakeview, OR. The project was supported by the southern 

Oregon CROP study.

Smoke Management

The Forest Service has been working closely with the 

Environmental Protection Agency to update and review the 

National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter, 

the rules that protect public health by regulating emissions from 

a variety of sources. When wildland fire incidents influence 

air quality standards, they can be considered to be exceptional 

events and are regulated by a separate set of rules, which 

are also being revised. The new, more stringent Particulate 

Matter Standards reflect recent scientific and medical findings 

that such pollution is a serious public health threat. Other air 

pollution rules are also being revised. 

Other efforts include working with the Fire and Air 

Issues Coordinating Group to craft interagency strategies with 

partners at DOI and State forestry agencies to address upcoming 

State-by-State changes in rules that protect visibility in airsheds 

and reduce pollutants from wildland fires that contribute to 

regional haze. 

The agency is focused on improving communication 

about and training for smoke management through national 

conference training and communication opportunities. 

Development of an interagency smoke management Web site 

is under way. Close work with agency researchers has resulted 

in improvements in quality and availability of the latest smokeimpact modeling tools such as BlueSkyRAINS.

Smoke from a fire on the Wenatchee National Forest.
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review 23

The National Fire Plan (NFP) has completed its 6th year of 

working to ensure an interagency and integrated approach to 

the long-term effort of restoring health and productivity to 

the Nation’s forests and grasslands. In the spring of 2006, the 

NFP Staff was merged into the FAM Staff as a means to ensure 

continued long-term success of NFP work. 

Update of the 10-Year Implementation Plan 

The newer goals, performance measures, and tasks in the 

updated plan incorporate opportunities created by the Healthy 

Forest Initiative and the Healthy Forest Restoration Act. 

Updating the tasks within the 10-Year Implementation Plan 

(Plan) was necessary because nearly 80 percent of the tasks 

listed in the original 2002 Plan have been accomplished. In 

addition, a summary of helpful practices for applying the Plan’s 

collaborative framework is provided to assist stakeholders in 

the process of working together to expedite projects such as 

Community Wildfire Protection Plans. The update of this Plan 

was a collaborative effort among the Forest Service, the DOI, 

and the Western Governors’ Association (represented by the 

diverse membership of the Forest Health Advisory Committee 

that includes more than 60 stakeholder groups). 

Healthy Forests Review

The FAM Staff led an integrated internal review of Forest 

Service use of HFI/HFRA authorities during FY 2006. 

Representatives from Forest Management, Ecosystem Management Coordination, and Wildlife Staffs were included on the 

review team. The purpose of the review was to (1) gauge 

Forest Service employees’ understanding of HF tools, (2) 

identify opportunities to improve the tools, and (3) determine 

how Forest Service leadership can better support the use of 

HFI authorities. The review noted significant barriers and 

challenges to HFI implementation and elements of successful 

HF implementation. The review report makes recommendations 

for improving use of HFI/HFRA authorities. During the course 

of the review, many of the concerns and recommendations 

addressed were also communicated to appropriate staff and 

leadership in the national office. As a result, many of the recommendations are already being implemented. 

Integration of Vegetation Treatment 

Programs

FAM provided leadership for coordinating and administering 

the Executive Integration Team (EIT). The EIT includes 

Washington Office staff directors whose programs directly 

affect vegetation treatment activities. The team meets twice a 

month to coordinate vegetation management, fuels reduction, 

and related activities and to provide leadership to field units to 

assure efficient and effective project implementation to provide 

multiple resource benefits.

The EIT developed a restoration framework to guide forest 

and grassland restoration in the field. Since adoption of the 

framework by the Executive Leadership Team in 2006, the EIT 

and the Interregional Ecosystem Management Coordinating 

Group (IREMCG) have been developing an implementation 

action plan for the restoration framework. 

The EIT is assisting with an effort led by the Acquisition 

Management Staff to develop a new Business Model for 

Collaboration with Communities.

In the spring of 2006, the FAM, Forest Management, and 

Watershed, Wildlife and Fisheries Staffs hosted a national 

integration workshop for regional directors of those programs. 

The workshop identified key objectives of working together and 

barriers to integration. National program directors identified top 

priorities to enhance integration among programs. Substantial 

progress has been made on all those priorities. The FAM and 

Forest Management Staffs began organizing a 2007 Integration 

Workshop to continue the momentum to full integration among 

fuels, vegetation management, and related programs.

Part V. National Fire Plan
24 Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

In FY 2006, the FAM Staff began developing a 

new integrated allocation process for hazardous fuels 

funding. Integration was incorporated in two key areas—

using integrated, multi-resource information to inform 

decisionmakers and using a decision process that ensures staff 

directors are working with each other to develop integrated 

recommendations for deputy chief funding decisions. 

Day-to-day integration among staffs in the WO has 

significantly improved. Integration meetings among staff 

directors, their deputies, assistant directors, and substaff are 

routine. Along with the regularly scheduled meetings of the EIT 

and their subteams, meetings are often scheduled to integrate 

direction and leadership on issues important to vegetation and 

fuels treatment programs.

FAM is being assisted by Forest Management Staff for 

integrated reviews of regional fire and fuels management 

programs.

2006 FACTS Transition

Through a collaborative effort of the FAM Staff, the Forest 

Management FACTS (Forest Service Activity Tracking System) 

staff, and the NFPORS (National Fire Plan Operations and 

Reporting System) and FACTS database contractors, the Forest 

Service facilitated the transition from NFPORS to FACTS as 

the primary data entry environment for reporting Forest Service 

hazardous fuels accomplishments pursuant to the NFP and 

HFI/HFRA. 

A 9-month effort involved the following:

• Developing new and modifying existing FACTS user 

interfaces for fuels managers. 

• Modifying the underlying database table structures.

• Migrating out-year NFPORS data to FACTS.

• Developing a utility to move data from FACTS to the 

NFPORS Management Dashboard each day.

• Training fuels managers in the use of the FACTS system. 

A comparison of FACTS and NFPORS data entry systems.
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review 25

With the modifications on schedule, users began entering 

their 2007 Hazardous Fuels, Non-NFP, and Restoration and 

Rehabilitation accomplishments in FACTS on October 1, 2006. 

The move to FACTS yielded the following advantages: 

• Less duplicative data entry.

• The ability to describe treatments more precisely.

• Data related to NEPA documentation will be drawn from 

PALS (the Planning, Appeals, and Litigation System).

• Potential to integrate with other Forest Service 

information systems. 

• Geographic Information System capabilities.

• Continued consistency with DOI NFPORS data.

Other NFP Accomplishments

Successes were realized on many fronts throughout 2006, 

including the following:

• Merged two interagency Web sites (http://www.fireplan.

gov and healthyforests.gov) into the innovative http://

forestsandrangelands.gov site. This new site is a one-stop 

source of information and data for Congress, agencies, 

stakeholders, and the general public. It will highlight the 

quarterly Healthy Forests and Rangelands Report and 

provide accomplishment reporting for such activities as 

hazardous fuels reduction, biomass use, and stewardship 

contracting. Combining the sites provides better service, 

and maintenance will be less expensive.

The new interagency Web site.
26 Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

Forest restoration and wildland fire exhibit.

• Continued staff support to the Wildland Fire Leadership 

Council, which provides leadership and oversight to 

ensure policy coordination, accountability, and effective 

implementation of the Federal Wildland Fire Management 

Policy. 

• Continued collaboration with Federal, State, and local 

partners on activities and issues revolving around reduction 

of hazardous fuels in critical wildland-urban interface areas, 

preparation of community wildfire protection plans, and 

integration of fuels reduction work with NFS program areas.

• Created and supplied national communication products 

on forest restoration and wildland fire issues to help our 

agency educate and inform the public at such venues as 

conferences, public meetings, environmental education 

seminars, and training sessions.

• Completed two additional programs in cooperation with 

The Weather Channel that focus on post-fire rehabilitation 

and restoration and fire research.
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review 27

Program Assessment Rating Tool

In FY 2002, the Wildland Fire Management program of the 

Forest Service was one of many Federal programs selected for 

the first round of OMB’s assessments using the PART. The FY 

2002 rating for the Wildland Fire Management was “Results 

Not Demonstrated,” due primarily to challenges in meeting 

its long-term goals. Under the direction of the Wildland Fire 

Leadership Council (WFLC), the Forest Service took steps to 

improve its Wildland Fire Management program in response to 

the FY 2002 assessment.

In FY 2006, the Forest Service Wildland Fire Management 

program underwent a PART reassessment for the FY 2008 

budget cycle. Three significant areas of improvement since the 

2002 assessment include (1) development of meaningful longterm and annual performance measures, (2) quality independent evaluations of the program, and (3) significant steps taken 

to address program management deficiencies. The program 

improved its PART rating to an “Adequate.” This achievement 

was important because OMB considers a program’s rating in 

its budget deliberations. A program that cannot show that it is 

adequately managed and is providing a good return on taxpayers’ dollars is not viewed favorably when OMB compiles the 

President’s Budget each year. 

Fire and Aviation Performance Measures

During FY 2006, FAM improved and streamlined performance 

measures. FAM compiled all the performance measures either 

that FAM created or that were created for us by other entities, 

including Congress, the WFLC, the Credibility Through 

Accountability process, and interagency coordination efforts. 

After the measures were compiled, FAM discovered that there 

were more than 400 performance measures from these multiple 

sources, counting both the unique and duplicative performance 

measures. In February 2006, FAM convened a group to analyze 

the measures based on three primary areas of concentration for 

the program: hazardous fuels reduction, wildland fire suppression, and partnerships. The group determined that 11 significant 

performance measures, when looked at in total, would provide 

a clear picture of the most important accomplishments the 

program made during the year. 

In addition to these 11 measures, FAM also developed 

measures for OMB’s PART Reassessment, the new Forest 

Service Strategic Plan, and the updated 10-Year Implementation 

Strategy. FAM considered measures that were already in place, 

however, and tried to ensure that, where possible, overlap and 

duplication of measures existed among the various documents. 

Although not all the documents are finalized, diligence during 

Part VI. Planning and Budget

Prescribed fire. Wildland fire suppression.
28 Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

this process resulted in FAM keeping the number to a manageable core set of approximately 30 performance measures.

Accountability and Program Oversight

Over the past several years, FAM programs have been the 

subject of numerous audit and study efforts, which have yielded 

hundreds of recommendations or suggestions for program 

improvement. In addition, each year Congress directs FAM on 

many program issues and we implement those directives. In FY 

2006, Congress issued approximately 20 program directives, 

and FAM has completed most of these initiatives, or is currently making progress on implementing them. In FY 2006, the 

Government Accountability Office and the USDA OIG issued 

four audit reports. Several other audits were still in progress at 

the close of the fiscal year. 

Because of the large number of audits or studies producing 

recommendations for program improvement, FAM hired a 

contractor, TriData Corporation, to review cost-containment 

reports or studies done from 2003 through 2005. In FY 2006, 

TriData analyzed more than 300 recommendations made in 

those reports and grouped them according to their potential to 

save taxpayers money. After setting aside redundant recommendations, and recommendations that could not be implemented 

(for example, the recommendations related to entities, such as 

States, that FAM has no control over or the recommendation 

related to safety issues that FAM will not compromise on), 

TriData determined that 203 unique recommendations were 

directed at improving wildfire suppression cost containment. 

Of those, FAM looked more closely at 71 recommendations 

that represented potentially high to extremely high cost savings if implemented. As of August 2006, the analysis showed 

that FAM had already taken or was in the process of taking 

action on approximately 57 of these recommendations. FAM 

determined that it had not implemented corrective actions on 

the remaining 14 recommendations for various reasons, such as 

the recommendations involving actions beyond Forest Service 

authority, deferral of action due to pending court decisions, and 

recommendations determined to be directed at isolated events.

Fire Program Analysis

The Fire Program Analysis (FPA) system is a tool that provides 

managers with a common interagency approach to fire management planning and budgeting. FPA will enable managers to 

better evaluate the effectiveness of alternative fire management 

strategies to meet land management goals and objectives. FPA 

will reflect fire objectives and performance measures for the 

full scope of fire management activities. 

The FPA project was chartered with the objective of providing “a common interagency planning and budgeting system 

with a cost-effective, trade-off analysis incorporating land and 

resource management objectives.” In FY 2006, the project was 

realigned to receive oversight from the WFLC; under WFLC 

direction, project governance and expectations were modified.

Key points of the FPA include the following: 

• Restructuring governance to include a Senior Executive 

Service Project Manager and two business leads 

representing the DOI and the Forest Service.

• Assembling a 12-member interagency science team to 

provide scientific support.

• Informing the budget process with outcomes of the system 

by providing information specific to the following five 

efficiency and performance elements:

• Reducing the probability of occurrence of costly fires.

• Reducing the probability of occurrence of costly fires 

within the wildland-urban interface.

• Increasing the proportion of land that meets or trends 

towards the attainment of fire and fuels management 

objectives.

• Protecting highly valued resources areas from 

unwanted fire.

• Maintaining a high initial attack success rate.

• Establishing delivery expectations as follows: 

• June 2007—a prototype to confirm proof of concept.

• June 2008—tentative field deployment of the system.
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review 29

The SCI is a relatively young product with refinements 

ongoing, including analyzing spatial data, enriching the data set, 

developing additional size classes, and examining other aspects. 

The SCI, as it matures, offers significant promise as a means for 

gaining insight into large fire costs and for measuring long-term 

management effects on large-fire-suppression costs.

In FY 2006, the Forest Service created a comptroller 

position to provide fiscal leadership and ensure oversight and 

effective use of agency suppression funds. Secondary objectives 

included a higher degree of communication among agency 

leadership, administration, and congressional officials. This 

enhanced communication allowed for better understanding of 

agency decisions and an increased ability to respond to related 

questions and inquiries in a timely manner. 

The comptroller appointed a group to assist in reviewing 

overnight changes in the fire situation; deployment of resources 

across the Nation; and trends in specific, troublesome fires 

and associated spending patterns daily. The group used its 

collective fire operations, fire budget, and financial management 

experience to develop questions for the comptroller to follow up 

on with agency leaders. These daily reviews provided national 

oversight and greatly increased the ability of the agency to 

respond to questions from the administration and other officials 

with credible information concerning ongoing events. Communications with senior, field-level administrators involved in 

fire operations supplemented the information available on fire 

conditions and on finance and budget performance.

In an effort to enhance the information about and understanding of large-fire costs, the Planning and Budget staff 

revised its large-fire, cost-review process. The process continues 

to be a three-pronged approach with (1) regional reviews occurring for all fires that exceed $5 million in Forest Service expenditures, (2) an independent panel review of fires that exceed $10 

million in Forest Service expenditures, and (3) a Washington 

Office review of fires that have expenditures significantly higher 

or lower than what is expected based on the SCI. Together, these 

changes will increase accountability, reduce duplication of 

effort, and provide a more complete understanding of the issues 

that are driving costs on large wildfires.

Cost Containment

FAM made significant progress in the area of better oversight 

and measuring our success in large, fire-suppression cost 

containment. Specifically, we developed more meaningful performance measures, including the Stratified Cost Index (SCI); 

we established a comptroller and support group to oversee large 

fire expenditures; and we revamped the process for reviewing 

large fire costs to provide more meaningful information and 

reduce duplication of effort. All these efforts are an important 

start in developing a strategy to better manage large-fire costs.

In FY 2006, we developed the SCI and adopted it as a 

performance measure. The SCI determines average suppression 

costs based on fire characteristics, such as fuel types, fire 

intensity, topography, region, and values at risk. In a given year, 

actual expenditures on each large fire (more than 300 acres) are 

compared to their “expected” costs as calculated by the SCI. 

Fires with high or low expenditures compared to the average 

suppression cost for fires with similar characteristics are then 

identified for review. We analyzed historical data to determine 

the average cost/acre and cost/fire for categories of similar 

fires and an acceptable range of costs around the average. This 

effort will result in a common metric to normalize large-firesuppression costs, which can be used for reviews, evaluations, 

planning, and reporting.

Example of an average cost per fire graph.

Average Cost Per Fire

Fire >= 300 acres and < 5,000 acres

Fiscal Year

Yearly Average Overall Average (‘95–‘04)

Thousands of Dollars (2004$)

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

1,800

1,600

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400

200

0
30 Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

Specific changes by review type include the following.

Regional Review

• Fielding more diverse teams.

• Requiring line officers to respond to each of the 

recommendations made by the review team.

• Submitting one comprehensive report per region that 

covers all relevant fires within the region and includes a 

region-wide analysis of expenditures and behaviors for the 

entire fire season rather than the fire-by-fire snapshots that 

were provided previously.

Independent Panel Review

• Fielding a diverse group of panel members, including risk 

management specialists, military fire management experts, 

and foreign fire management experts.

• Ensuring there are no current or former Federal, State, or 

local fire experts on the panel.

• Focusing primarily on broad risk management issues and 

less on operational issues.

Washington Office Review

• Focusing on fires that have significantly higher or lower 

expenditures than the SCI indicates is acceptable.

• Ensuring there is no redundancy with regional reviews.

• Identifying principles that need to be incorporated into the 

agency doctrine.

Wildland Fire Decision Support System 

The Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS) project, 

initiated in FY 2005, focuses on the goal of developing a 

scaleable decision tool to support line officers in their decisionmaking for ignitions that escape initial attack or that will 

be managed as wildland fire use events. The WFDSS project 

scope includes reengineering the existing Wildland Fire Situation Analysis and Wildland Fire Implementation Plan (WFIP) 

processes and supporting applications. 

During the 2006 fire season, two promising components 

for WFDSS were prototyped: a new fire spread probability 

prediction application (FSPro—Fire Spread Probability) and 

an application that uses FSPro outputs to assess values at risk 

(RAVAR—Rapid Assessment of Values at Risk). The prototyped applications had merit and are being further developed as 

a component of WFDSS.

FSPro analysis, Ulm Peak wildfire (Montana–2006).
Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review 

in Wildland Fire Management), developing and deploying an 

implementation plan for the national strategy. The third phase 

will include details on the number of aircraft needed, annual 

funding requirements for the fleet, design of a coordinated 

acquisition plan, a coordinated pilot and aircraft inspection and 

certification process. 

The Aviation program will also continue its competitivesourcing-feasibility study for all aviation assets. The Aviation 

program will also review comments and recommendations from 

the report that was completed in FY 2006 and will analyze and 

assess cost effectiveness and efficiency of the aviation program 

and assets, including the workload and other data requirements 

necessary for business process reengineering or competitive 

sourcing. 

For FY 2007, the FAM Staff will focus on risk assessments 

done on the hazardous fuels and preparedness resources 

programs. The FAM deputy directors and assistant directors 

are working with the FAM director to create and implement 

a Strategic Plan for FAM. FAM will continue its integration 

efforts with other programs inside the Forest Service to restore 

fire-adapted ecosystems, and its partnerships with external 

partners will continue. FAM will continue to work closely with 

all our partners, both within our agency and outside. Many 

challenges lie ahead and, as always, FAM will continue to 

emphasize safety first. 

The following paragraphs highlight FY 2007 program work.

Wildland Firefighting

FAM will maintain a 98 percent initial attack success rate in 

FY 2007 and implement management efficiencies to reduce 

preparedness and suppression costs. The proposed management 

efficiencies will influence suppression expenditures and the 

fire preparedness budget. In addition, it will clarify the intent 

of “Appropriate Management Response,” choosing the best 

suppression strategy for the resources and values at risk. We are 

formulating the details of the proposed management efficiencies and will begin implementation of the short-term actions 

during the 2007 fire season.

The Risk Management program is leading a project 

to accomplish program risk assessments that establish new 

performance measures based on mitigating action plans. 

Assessment is complete on the airtanker program and with the 

Rocky Mountain Research Station. Assessments are under way 

in helicopter, aerial supervision, and backcountry flight operations. Program risk assessments will be completed in FY 2007.

Aviation

During FY 2007, FAM will focus on the third phase of the 

Aviation Strategy (Strategic Plan for Use of Aviation Assets 

Part VII. Focus Areas for 2007

Aviation strategy is an important part of effective, efficient 

wildland firefighting.
32 Fire and Aviation Management Fiscal Year 2006 in Review

Partnerships

In FY 2007, the Partnerships program plans to provide 

technical assistance, training, supplies, and equipment to more 

than 6,500 small, rural communities and 3,800 volunteer fire 

departments. The Partnerships program will look at increasing 

contact with and influence on county and community ordinances for fire prevention and structure ignitability.

In addition, the Partnerships program will continue supporting the National Response Plan (NRP). The Homeland 

Security Act and Homeland Security Presidential Directive #5 

(HSPD-5) mandated the development of the NRP predicated on 

the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The NRP 

and NIMS are intended to provide the structure that coordinates 

the capabilities and resources of all levels of government, the 

private sector, and nongovernmental organizations into a unified national approach to incident response and management. 

Both the NIMS and the NRP are being revised and scheduled to 

be released on June 1, 2007. The role of the Forest Service may 

be changed as new functions are proposed and new operational 

plans are developed to support the revised NRP. The current 

NRP contains 15 emergency support functions (ESFs) to provide the structure for coordinating Federal interagency support 

for incidents. The Forest Service is the coordinator and primary 

agency for Emergency Support Function #4—Firefighting—

and is named as a support agency for 11 of the 15 current ESFs 

in the NRP. 

Fuels and Fire Ecology

The Forest Service will continue to reduce hazardous fuels by 

treating approximately 2.9 million acres of hazardous fuels to 

reduce flammability of forest lands, woodlands, shrublands, and 

grasslands, including 1.9 million acres in the WUI areas and 

987,000 acres outside of WUI areas. FAM will use CWPPs to 

help guide hazardous fuels reduction and to guide the selection 

of landscape-scale forest restoration projects that cross ownership boundaries. FAM will continue to participate in the Federal 

Woody Biomass Utilization Working Group to promote and 

support the use of woody biomass and woody biomass products 

from forest and woodland treatments. LANDFIRE will 

continue to progress, and the basic data layers (fire behavior, 

fire regime, and vegetation) for the 13 Southern States will be 

completed. By year end, LANDFIRE data will be available for 

more than 50 percent of the continental United States.

Planning and Budget

In FY 2007, FAM will continue implementing the Fire Program 

Analysis (FPA) system and, together with the DOI, will deliver 

a prototype of the FPA model, which uses science-based analyses to evaluate preparedness, suppression, and fuel treatment 

programs across agency boundaries. The prototype is scheduled 

to be delivered in the summer of 2007 with system delivery 

expected in FY 2008.

FAM also plans to develop the initial Wildland Fire 

Decision Support System prototype and improve analyses of 

wildland fire-suppression alternatives to enhance decisionmaking and facilitate cost containment. 

The Planning and Budget program will continue to refine 

FAM performance measures by updating the SCI and analyzing 

the information that we continue to obtain. We are also emphasizing our efforts in the PART improvement plan for FAM with 

OMB.