CONFRONTING THE WILDFIRE CRISIS

Expanding Efforts To Deliver on the Wildfire Crisis Strategy

Forest Service

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

WILDFIRE CRISIS

Landscape

Investments

 FS-1187f | January 2023

Forest Service

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
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The Secretary of Agriculture’s memorandum 

on Climate Resilience and Carbon 

Stewardship of America’s National Forests 

and Grasslands, released in June 2022, 

helped guide the selection process for 

these 11 landscapes. The criteria included 

not only wildfire exposure to buildings 

in the wildland-urban interface but also 

exposure to underserved communities, 

Indigenous peoples and lands, sources of 

drinking water, habitats for native fish and 

wildlife, and more. We also considered 

critical infrastructure and utility corridors. 

Accordingly, the selected landscapes contain 

multiple values at risk in project areas across 

26.7 million acres. 

In fiscal year (FY) 2023, we will increase 

our capacity for fuels and forest health 

treatments by incorporating new ways to 

work with our partners and communities, 

establishing mobile strike teams, and 

using new technology that allows us to 

plan and place treatments more effectively. 

We will also make our processes more 

efficient through a modernized grants and 

agreements system, more effective National 

Environmental Policy Act analyses, and 

expanded use of emergency authorities. 

Because healthy forests depend on a healthy 

forest products industry, we will expand 

our partnerships with mills, loggers, and 

other industry stakeholders. By working 

with all of our partners to pick up the pace 

and scale of our fuels and forest health 

treatments across the chosen landscapes, 

we will support local economies, protect 

communities, and improve the health and 

resilience of forests.

At the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

(USDA), Forest Service, we are entering 

our second year of carrying out our 10-

year strategy for confronting the wildfire 

crisis in the West (Confronting the 

Wildfire Crisis: A Strategy for Protecting 

Communities and Improving Resilience in 

America’s Forests). 

Our goal in launching the Wildfire Crisis 

Strategy was to safeguard communities 

and the resources they depend on by 

increasing fuels treatments over time, 

promoting community readiness, 

and supporting postfire recovery and 

restoration. To accomplish this, we are 

using all funding sources, including 

existing efforts like the Collaborative 

Forest Landscape Restoration Program 

(CFLRP) and Joint Chiefs’ Landscape 

Restoration Partnership (Joint Chiefs’), as 

well as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law 

and Inflation Reduction Act. We are also 

working closely with partners on activities 

ranging from collaborative planning and 

prioritization to capacity building, on-theground improvements, and monitoring 

success.

Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, 

Congress appropriated $1.4 billion to start 

putting our Wildfire Crisis Strategy into 

action with investments on 10 landscapes 

in 8 Western States. Through work on 

these landscapes, as well as ongoing Joint 

Chiefs’, CFLRP, and regularly appropriated 

hazardous fuels reduction projects, we 

completed treatments on 3.2 million acres. 

We accomplished these treatments in 118 

of the 250 high-risk firesheds identified in 

the Wildfire Crisis Strategy, reducing risk 

to communities, infrastructure, and critical 

watersheds across the West.

With additional funding under the 

Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, we have 

selected 11 additional landscapes in 69 

firesheds for treatment. We listened to 

our employees, our partners, and Tribes 

on what mattered most to them, where 

opportunity exists, and where challenges 

remain. Their feedback and our experience 

on these landscapes helped us identify 

both challenges to implementation and 

conditions that can lead to future success. 

We received more than 3,000 unique 

ideas during interactive sessions and are 

considering them for implementation.

PROTECTING 

COMMUNITIES 

AND IMPROVING 

RESILIENCE

The Elko Front, located in northeastern Nevada, 

encompasses about 20 rural communities, 

including the city of Elko. The landscape 

boundaries generally align with the Elko-Spring 

Creek-Lamoille and South Ruby Mountains 

Shared Stewardship high-priority landscapes. 

The landscape and adjacent communities are at 

high risk of catastrophic wildfire due to dense 

fuels, declining forest health, noxious weed 

infestations, persistent drought, and humancaused ignitions. USDA Forest Service photo.

WHAT AREAS ARE 

HIGHEST PRIORITY 

FOR TREATMENT? 

High-risk firesheds are large 

forested landscapes and 

rangelands where there is a high 

likelihood that an ignition could 

expose homes, communities, 

and infrastructure to destructive 

wildfire. Firesheds, typically 

about 250,000 acres in size, are 

mapped to match the scale of 

community exposure to wildfire.
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Wildfires have been growing in size, duration, and 

destructivity over the past 30 years. The Nation has more 

than 460 million acres at moderate to very high risk from 

wildfire. Many western landscapes are at grave and growing 

risk from wildfire due to a combination of accumulating 

fuels, a warming climate, and expanding development in 

fire-prone landscapes. At the Forest Service, we are taking 

decisive action to confront this crisis.

THE WILDFIRE 

CRISIS

The Sierra Front is in western Nevada and 

eastern California, adjacent to the metropolitan 

areas of Reno-Sparks and Carson City. With 

a total population of more than 600,000, the 

area includes more than 10 rural communities 

along its western flank. The proposed landscape 

boundaries generally align with the Sierra 

Front-Carson-Walker Shared Stewardship highpriority landscape and are adjacent to high-risk 

firesheds in the neighboring Pacific Southwest 

Region. USDA Forest Service photo.

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

WHERE ARE WE GOING?

The wildfire crisis in the Western United 

States has been building for decades. A story 

map traces the origins of the crisis and what 

we are doing to confront it, giving a bird’seye view of the Wildfire Crisis Strategy and 

what it will achieve. 
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OUR STRATEGY 

FOR CONFRONTING 

THE CRISIS

In January 2022, the Forest Service responded to the wildfire crisis 

in the West by launching our Wildfire Crisis Strategy. Building on 

the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy and 

our agreements with States and other partners under our Shared 

Stewardship investment strategy, the Wildfire Crisis Strategy calls 

for a new paradigm: stepping up the pace and scale of our fuels and 

forest health treatments to match the actual scale of wildfire risk. 

We created a national team to work with Tribes and with Federal, 

State, local, and private partners in crafting a 10-year Wildfire Crisis 

Implementation Plan for the Wildfire Crisis Strategy. The plan—a 

blueprint for executing the strategy through partnerships—is based 

on peer-reviewed research and a framework for collaboration 

established over the past 20 years. Under the plan, we are working 

with our partners to focus our fuels and forest health treatments 

more strategically and at the scale of the problem, using the best 

available science as our guide. 

Based on a fireshed analysis, our scientists have models for 

identifying the firesheds most in need of fuels and forest health 

treatments to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire. Scientific 

research guides the treatments needed to reduce the risk, including 

mechanically thinning trees and conducting prescribed fires. We 

estimate that up to 50 million acres of State, Tribal, Federal, private, 

and other lands across the West are in need of treatment. 

In April 2022, in coordination with partners, we announced that 

10 of the highest priority western landscapes would receive an 

initial investment of $131 million in FY 2022 under the Bipartisan 

Infrastructure Law. The selected landscapes contain 68 high-risk 

firesheds and about 13 million acres where we are applying the 

funds to fuels and forest health treatment projects. The selected 

landscapes overlap with National Forest System lands in the West 

that require some level of immediate treatment. 

WHAT TREATMENTS ARE 

NEEDED TO REDUCE 

FUELS AND RESTORE 

FOREST HEALTH?

Prescribed fire mimics nature’s fire when 

professionals apply wildland fire to 

fire-adapted landscapes under carefully 

prescribed conditions. Many low-elevation 

western forests originally had up to 60 

large trees per acre, but now each acre 

typically has hundreds of trees, mostly 

small and highly flammable in a drought, 

capable of sending flames into the canopy 

for a devastating crown fire. The solution 

is to restore a semblance of the original 

fire-adapted landscape by (1) mechanically 

thinning trees to reduce the forest to 

something approaching the historical 

number of trees; (2) applying prescribed 

fire to further reduce hazardous fuels and 

reintroduce fire effects into the fire-adapted 

system; and (3) at suitable intervals, using 

both planned and unplanned ignitions to 

re-create a fire-adapted landscape. 

Fuels reduction work on the San Carlos Reservation and National 

Forest System lands will reduce the exposure to wildfire of the Mount 

Graham International Observatory and two telecommunications 

sites, which include primary communications systems for local law 

enforcement. Work will also protect international waters shared with 

the San Carlos Apache Tribe, associated drinking water systems, and 

residential areas. USDA Forest Service photo. 

A firefighter works to maintain the 

perimeter boundary of a prescribed 

fire. USDA Forest Service photo. 

In August 2022, the President signed the Inflation Reduction 

Act into law. The law made $5 billion in additional funding 

available to the Forest Service over 10 years, including $1.8 

billion for fuels and vegetation treatments on the national 

forests and grasslands in the wildland-urban interface. We will 

use funding under the Inflation Reduction Act to invest in fuels 

and forest health treatment projects on 11 additional western 

landscapes. 

We based our selection of the 11 landscapes on criteria set forth 

by the Secretary of Agriculture. In addition to wildfire exposure 

to buildings, our criteria included protecting underserved 

communities, critical infrastructure, public water sources, and 

proximity to Tribal lands. Listening to the more than 3,000 

comments from 11 roundtables held in the first half of 2022, we 

also chose landscapes with enough planning and resources in 

place to immediately begin work.

We have an emergency situation on National Forest System 

lands within 250 high-risk firesheds across the West. In 

response, the Secretary of Agriculture is also authorizing 

us to use a new emergency authority in the Bipartisan 

Infrastructure Law, combined with strategic implementation 

of existing authorities. Using the new authorities will enable us 

to accelerate planning, consultation, contracting, hiring, and 

implementation of fuels and forest health treatments across 

the high-risk firesheds, including the 11 additional landscapes 

and postfire recovery areas most impacted in the past several 

years. Work will begin in coordination with partners and in full 

compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and 

other applicable laws. 

The following pages include a map that shows the 11 landscapes 

selected for a new round of investments, as well as specific 

information for each landscape. 

THE NEW ROUND OF INVESTMENTS
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LANDSCAPE 

SELECTION 

CONSIDERATIONS

SCALE: The wildfire crisis is not just on 

National Forest System (NFS) lands. The crisis 

crosses the borders of Federal, State, Tribal, 

and private lands, especially in the West. To 

confront the crisis, we have to work across 

boundaries and at a scale that can make the 

greatest impact. For all 21 landscapes under 

the Wildfire Crisis Strategy, we are already 

working with partners at a landscape scale 

or have partnerships in place for working 

across landscapes. Together with our partners, 

we must work at the scale needed to protect 

communities while conserving ecological 

values at risk from wildfire and drought.

OUTCOMES: The projects on these 

landscapes focus on treating the right places at 

the scale needed to achieve desired outcomes: 

reduced wildfire risk to people, communities, 

infrastructure, water sources, and other values 

and resources. In making landscape selections, 

we considered where investments could reduce 

exposure to wildfire, not just the number of 

acres that could be treated.

COLLABORATION: All landscapes 

have projects that were collaboratively 

developed with communities and ready for 

implementation. Working together with 

partners, we considered collaborative efforts 

already in place and with opportunities to 

invest in underserved communities. These 

landscapes include other Federal, Tribal, State, 

and private partner investments. Projects 

complement existing investments in fireadapted communities.

EXISTING AUTHORITIES: 

The landscapes align with States’ forest action 

plans, building on past work and available 

congressional authorities and programs, 

including the Collaborative Forest Landscape 

Restoration Program, Tribal Forest Protection 

Act, Good Neighbor Authority, Joint Chiefs’ 

Landscape Restoration Partnership, and Shared 

Stewardship agreements. These investments add 

to a broader portfolio of work through other 

funding sources related to wildfire 

risk, recovery, and resilience in communities 

across the country. We will continue to use all 

authorities at our disposal.

PARTNER INVESTMENTS:

Achieving the desired pace and scale 

of treatments on these landscapes 

will require the support of State and local 

governments, Tribes, nongovernmental 

organizations, and industry. Many of the 

landscapes already have momentum in using 

and sharing resources across boundaries. 

We will work with existing and new partners 

to develop long-term funding plans for the 

landscapes.

EQUITY: Wildfires and other natural 

disasters can pose significant threats to 

a community’s health and well-being, 

particularly for at-risk communities. At-risk 

communities may experience unique barriers 

in preparing for, responding to, and recovering 

from wildfires. These communities may also 

be more prone to health and environmental 

impacts resulting from underlying social 

and political conditions. How we consider, 

communicate with, outreach to, and support 

at-risk communities are critical components 

to successful implementation of the Wildfire 

Crisis Strategy. To help our land managers 

and leaders determine needs and appropriate 

actions, we looked at various risk factors 

at the county level to illustrate the social 

and demographic conditions within (and 

surrounding) each landscape. This analysis 

included U.S. Census data related to access to 

services and support (e.g., persistent poverty, 

education status, unemployment status), health 

and mobility (e.g., age, disability), language 

spoken, housing/egress (e.g., types of housing, 

access to transportation), and additional data 

related to community capacity (e.g., staffing, 

resources, expertise available to apply for 

funding and build/manage projects over time). 

This information will help shape relationships, 

communication, public education, and capacity 

building for the Wildfire Crisis Strategy.

RISK TO COMMUNITIES:

Areas with high structure density have 

relatively high wildfire risk to homes 

and communities. This area is known as the 

wildland-urban interface, where buildings 

and infrastructure meet or intermingle with 

undeveloped wildlands, and it is where 

wildfires have their greatest impacts on people. 

We overlaid maps of structure density in the 

wildland-urban interface with fireshed maps 

to help locate high-priority areas for treatment. 

Many high-priority landscapes identified for 

treatment are in firesheds with high exposure to 

wildfire for the wildland-urban interface. 

CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE: 

Critical infrastructure consists of 

powerlines and utility corridors. 

Wildfires in remote areas that threaten 

powerlines can adversely affect metropolitan 

communities hundreds of miles away, so 

protecting powerlines from wildfires is critically 

important. We compared maps of critical power 

supplies with fireshed maps to help locate highpriority areas for treatment. 

IMPORTANT ROADWAYS:

Highways are important lifelines for 

communities. Wildfires can impede 

travel and commerce, with lasting effects due 

to postfire mudflows and landslides across 

roadways. The cost of road repairs and longterm commercial disruption can be high. We 

overlaid maps of major roadways with fireshed 

maps to help determine where the impacts of a 

catastrophic wildfire would be greatest.

MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLIES: 

For their drinking water, municipalities 

depend for their drinking water not only 

on runoff and ground water recharge from rain 

and snowmelt but also on impoundments and 

other infrastructure, which are often located 

on National Forest System lands. We compared 

maps of municipal watersheds and related 

infrastructure with fireshed maps to determine 

where the wildfire risk to municipal water 

supplies was greatest.

LANDSCAPES

NEW LANDSCAPES

EXISTING LANDSCAPES

HIGH-RISK FIRESHEDS

ALL LAND OWNERSHIPS 

FOREST SERVICE LANDS
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FOREST SERVICE REGION

Southwestern

NATIONAL FORESTS

Apache-Sitgreaves, Coronado, and Tonto 

National Forests

STATE

Arizona

LANDSCAPE SIZE

3 million acres

TRIBAL CONNECTION

San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos 

Reservation

PARTNERS

San Carlos Apache Tribe; National Forest 

Foundation; Arizona Game and Fish 

Department; Mule Deer Foundation; 

Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire 

Management; Salt River Project

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS

AZ-1, AZ-2, and AZ-6 

EXPECTED COMPLETION OF

INITIAL TREATMENTS

Fiscal years 2023—27

EXPECTED FUNDING IN FY 2023

$32,009,200 

LANDSCAPE HIGHLIGHTS

This landscape includes National Forest System lands and San Carlos Reservation 

lands. For cross-boundary landscape restoration, at the Forest Service, we will work 

with the San Carlos Apache Tribe to build on the two Tribal Forest Protection Act 

projects they initiated. Work on the landscape will protect international waters 

shared with the Tribe, associated drinking water systems, and residential areas. 

Fuels reduction work will also reduce the exposure to wildfire of the Mount Graham 

International Observatory and two telecommunications sites, which include primary 

communications systems for local law enforcement.

MECHANISMS FOR EXECUTION

Working cooperatively with the San Carlos Apache Tribe and various partners 

(including the National Forest Foundation, the Arizona Game and Fish Department, 

the Mule Deer Foundation, and the Salt River Project), we will use contracts and 

other partnership agreements during initial hiring and training and on-the-ground 

fuels treatments and survey work. 

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

Work on this landscape will reduce wildfire exposure to communities within the San 

Carlos and Fort Apache Reservations. Landscape treatments will reintroduce wildland 

fire into fire-adapted ecosystems in a culturally sensitive way while emphasizing 

sustainable uses of cultural forest products, including clean water, traditional 

medicinal plant cover, firewood, and culturally significant food sources such as 

acorns, berries, and wildlife. Work will also foster public understanding and sharing 

of culturally significant information to better guide our land management decisions.

We expect to complete 87,000 acres of treatments between FYs 2023 and 2027. 

However, during the first 2 years, the San Carlos Apache Tribe will be hiring, and 

these new positions will add to the overall capacity to collaborate, develop, and 

implement projects across the landscape. Once the capacity is established to develop 

and implement critically important treatments, we will work together to treat beyond 

the initial 87,000 acres.

SAN CARLOS APACHE TRIBAL 

FOREST PROTECTION

LANDSCAPES
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FOREST SERVICE REGION

Pacific Southwest 

NATIONAL FOREST

Plumas National Forest 

STATE

California 

LANDSCAPE SIZE

285,000 acres 

TRIBAL CONNECTIONS

Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico; Estom Yumeka Tribe 

of Enterprise Rancheria; Mountain Maidu of Greenville 

Rancheria; Concow Maidu Tribe of Mooretown Rancheria; 

Tyme Maidu Tribe of Berry Creek Rancheria; Susanville Indian 

Rancheria; Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California; Konkow 

Valley Band of Maidu 

PARTNERS

Great Basin Institute; Lassen Fire Safe Council; Feather River 

Resource Conservation District, Sierra Nevada Conservancy; 

Yuba Water Agency; Mule Deer Foundation; Butte County 

Resource Conservation District; Plumas Corporation/Plumas 

County Fire Safe Council; Concow Maidu Tribe of Mooretown 

Rancheria; Konkow Valley Band of Maidu; the State of 

California; Butte, Lassen, Plumas, Sierra, and Yuba Counties; 

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; National Forest 

Foundation; National Wild Turkey Federation; Trout Unlimited; 

Sierra Institute; Fire Safe Councils (Butte and Yuba); Firewise 

Communities in Plumas and Butte Counties; University of 

California, Davis; California State University, Chico; Feather 

River College; Maidu Consortium; Maidu Cultural Development 

Group; Tasmam Kovom Foundation; Ya-Mani Maidu Cultural 

Association; and local industrial and public utility partners. 

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS

CA- 1

EXPECTED COMPLETION OF

INITIAL TREATMENTS

FYs 2023—26

EXPECTED FUNDING, FY 2023

$273,930,000 

LANDSCAPE HIGHLIGHTS

The Plumas Community Protection Projects Landscape focuses on community 

zones across the Plumas National Forest with very high, high, or moderate wildfire 

hazard potential. The landscape covers 284,912 acres in five high-risk firesheds. 

Critical infrastructure includes hydroelectric power plants, drinking water, electrical 

transmission corridors, State highways, railroads, telecommunications, school 

districts, and forest products industries. The Feather River provides electricity 

and fresh water to over 27 million people and 4–5 million acres of farmland. 

Since catastrophic wildfires have burned 65 percent of the forest in recent years, 

protecting communities and infrastructure from future wildfires is essential. 

MECHANISMS FOR EXECUTION

At the Plumas National Forest, we are focusing on contracts, agreements, and 

short-term internal Forest Service support to complete the Plumas Community 

Protection Projects. We are currently working with partners across the landscape 

and have identified opportunities to expand partnerships and contracts, including 

an integrated resources service contract for project planning, implementation, and 

maintenance. We created an implementation team, including forest specialists and 

regional experts, to identify opportunities and threats so we can make a risk-based 

assessment of capacity to expand efforts. We are also working with other agencies 

through a long-term recovery working group established after the catastrophic 

Dixie Fire in 2021.

ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES

Our work on the landscape will reduce exposure to wildfire for the 41 communities 

in 5 counties at highest risk within the Plumas National Forest, as well as the critical 

infrastructure and watersheds that serve them. We will improve road systems for 

community egress, reduce the potential for extreme fire behavior in the wildlandurban interface, create a more resilient forest structure and ecological function, and 

foster an all-lands approach to fire and fuels management.

Our goals include treating 74,000 acres in FY 2023, with a total of 185,000 acres 

treated in following years, primarily in the wildland-urban interface.

PLUMAS COMMUNITY PROTECTION

LANDSCAPES
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FOREST SERVICE REGION

Pacific Southwest 

NATIONAL FORESTS

Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres, and San 

Bernardino National Forests 

STATE

California 

LANDSCAPE SIZE

4 million acres

TRIBAL CONNECTIONS

Forty-four Tribes, Bands, and Nations with 

members representing Acjachemen, ‘Atáaxum, 

Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, Southern Paiute, 

Northern Chumash, Chumash, Cupeño, Diegeño, 

Esselen, Gabrieleno, Gabrielino, Iipay/Ipai, 

Juaneño, Kitanemuk, Kizh, Kwaaymii, Kumeyaay, 

Kuupangaxwichem, Luiseño, Payómkawichum, 

Qawishpa Cahuillangnah, Salinan, Serrano, 

Tataviam/Fernandeño, Tipay/Tipai, Yokuts, and 

Tongva communities 

PARTNERS

The State of California; National Forest 

Foundation; Blue Forest Conservation; 

Conservation Investment Management; U.S. 

Geological Survey; Climate Science Alliance; San 

Diego State University; National Fish and Wildlife 

Foundation; Pacific Gas and Electric; San Diego 

Gas and Electric; Southern California Edison

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS

CA-18–20, CA-23–31, CA-33, CA-39–41, and CA48–50 

EXPECTED COMPLETION OF

INITIAL TREATMENTS

FYs 2023—26

EXPECTED FUNDING, FY 2023

$10,000,000

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FIRESHED 

RISK REDUCTION STRATEGY 

LANDSCAPES

LANDSCAPE HIGHLIGHTS

The immense values at risk in southern California and the collaborative solutions 

underway for vegetation management represent investment opportunities to avoid 

staggering social, economic, and ecological costs. Southern California’s national 

forests differ from many others across the Western United States. The dominant 

vegetation type, shrubland, has burned too frequently over the past century. 

Because of this, the southern California landscape does not need the same types 

of treatments and maintenance as forested landscapes. This area has the Nation’s 

highest concentration of high-risk firesheds and is home to 25 million people. There 

is a large wildland-urban interface throughout the landscape, as well as Tribal lands, 

watersheds that provide municipal drinking water, and utility infrastructure. 

MECHANISMS FOR EXECUTION

Across the four national forests, we have flexible agreements and contracts with 

the ability to expand work as funding allows, including contracts for mechanical 

treatments. By working with partners, we have more staff capacity for contract 

oversight and project implementation. We are also working with partners to boost 

our joint capacity across the landscape. A new Tribal relations program manager will 

identify opportunities to work with the 44 Tribes and their associated communities 

throughout this landscape.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

Through this additional investment, we will reduce wildfire exposure at the 

landscape scale through ignition reduction, vegetation management, strategic fuel 

breaks, and conservation of montane forest ecosystems. We will align vegetation 

management priorities with adjacent landowners. In the wildland-urban interface, 

we will work with partners to “harden” homes and utilities, create defensible space, 

and foster public education and responsible land use planning. Our work will also 

help major utility companies reduce ignition potential and their exposure to wildfire. 

Our fuel break network and montane forest conservation will help to stop wildfires 

before they reach utilities, and our ignition reduction effort will prevent many 

wildfires before they even begin. We will reduce wildfire risk to watersheds, along 

with the risk of postfire flooding and sedimentation.

Our goals include treating 5,000 acres in FY 2023, with a total of 27,500 acres in the 

next 3 years.
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FOREST SERVICE REGION

Pacific Southwest 

NATIONAL FORESTS

Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers National Forests 

STATE

California

LANDSCAPE SIZE

910,000 acres

TRIBAL CONNECTIONS

Hoopa Valley Tribe; Round Valley Indian Tribes, 

Round Valley Reservation; Bear River Band 

of the Rohnerville Rancheria; Wiyot Tribe; 

Redding Rancheria; Yurok Tribe of the Yurok 

Reservation; Karuk Tribe

PARTNERS

Watershed Research and Training Center; 

Trinity County Resource Conservation District; 

California Department of Forestry and Fire 

Prevention; Trinity County Collaborative Group

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

 CA-1 and CA-2

EXPECTED COMPLETION OF

INITIAL TREATMENTS

FYs 2023—26

EXPECTED FUNDING, FY 2023

$15,899,900 

LANDSCAPE HIGHLIGHTS

The landscape centers on Trinity County and extends into neighboring Humboldt and 

Shasta Counties. Trinity County has the highest wildfire risk in California and the 

State’s second highest wildfire risk to homes; other communities within or adjacent to 

the landscape are also at high risk from wildfire. The landscape has 693,662 acres of 

National Forest System lands (76 percent of the total), with the remainder in a mix of 

private and public ownerships. 

Major roads include California State Routes 299, 36, and 3, which serve as 

thoroughfares in an area without interstate highways. Route 299 is the largest 

connection from the California interior to the Pacific Coast, with Route 36 as a 

primary alternate route. Route 3 is the main north-south travel corridor through 

Trinity and Siskiyou Counties, with no viable alternative in the landscape. Numerous 

county and forest roads also serve as critical ingress/egress routes for local 

communities.

MECHANISMS FOR EXECUTION

On the Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers National Forests, we have strong relationships 

with Tribes and local partners and communities. Agreements with local partners 

boost our capacity for fuels reduction, road maintenance and reconstruction, surveys 

(wildlife, botany, and archeology), field preparation of contracts, and third-party 

analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act. In addition, new tools such as 

the integrated resource service contract blanket purchase agreement and discussions 

with Trinity County regarding a Good Neighbor Agreement will increase capacity.

ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES

Landscape work will protect local communities and critical infrastructure, including 

natural gas pipelines, high-voltage transmission lines, the Trinity and Lewiston 

Dams (hydroelectric power facilities that deliver water to the Central Valley Project), 

multiple radio and telecommunications sites on ridges and mountains, and multiple 

community water sources, including Ruth Lake (the primary water source for about 

88,000 Humboldt County residents).

Our plan is to treat 6,855 acres in FY 2023, with a total of 65,000 acres treated in the 

next 3 years. 

TRINITY FOREST HEALTH AND

FIRE-RESILIENT RURAL COMMUNITIES 

LANDSCAPES
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FOREST SERVICE REGION

Northern Region

NATIONAL FOREST

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests

STATE

Idaho

LANDSCAPE SIZE

1.5 million acres

TRIBAL CONNECTIONS

Nez Perce Tribe

PARTNERS

Idaho Department of Lands; Idaho 

Department of Fish and Game; Idaho 

Department of Parks and Recreation; Idaho 

Governor’s Office of Species Conservation; 

The Nature Conservancy; Trout Unlimited; 

Backcountry Hunters and Anglers; Idaho 

Forest Group; Empire Lumber; Idaho 

Conservation League; Idaho County; American 

Forest Resource Council; Hells Canyon 

Recreation Collaborative; Clearwater Basin 

Collaborative; North Central Idaho Resource 

Advisory Council; watershed advisory groups; 

Idaho County Soil and Water Conservation 

District; county wildfire working groups; 

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS

ID-1

EXPECTED COMPLETION OF

INITIAL TREATMENTS

 2028

EXPECTED FUNDING, FY 2023

 $34,000,000 

NEZ PERCE-CLEARWATERLOWER SALMON

LANDSCAPES

LANDSCAPE HIGHLIGHTS

The Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests are entirely within the ceded territory of the 

Nez Perce Tribe. Adjacent to the Nez Perce Reservation and other rural communities, 

the landscape continues to provide cultural and natural resources, including food, water, 

timber, and recreation. The area includes watersheds of the Clearwater, Salmon, and 

Snake Rivers, as well as Idaho County—the State’s largest county and 85-percent federally 

owned. Forests in this landscape are critical for the local timber industry, which also 

depends on roads and other infrastructure at risk from wildfire.

MECHANISMS FOR EXECUTION

Using successful Good Neighbor Agreements with the Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho 

Department of Lands, and Idaho Department of Fish and Game, at the Nez PerceClearwater National Forests, we will reduce hazardous fuels and restore watersheds. 

Future planning will include costewardship with the Nez Perce Tribe and cross-boundary 

collaboration with State and local partners to address climate change through aquatic 

improvement projects, commercial timber harvest, prescribed fire, and mechanical 

treatments across the landscape. 

The Nez Perce-Clearwater landscape area has a robust timber industry to support 

implementation of projects which require mechanical timber removal. Our timber 

program is diverse and efficient, using stewardship contracting, conventional sales, and 

Good Neighbor Agreements to maximize the capability to treat acres. Similarly, we have 

used contracts, agreements, and partners to implement prescribed fire and mechanical 

fuels treatments. We will also use these methods to improve roads, which will facilitate 

landscape treatments.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

Work on this landscape will reduce fuels in and near high-risk firesheds, treat 

acres identified in the “Idaho Forest Action Plan,” and restore watersheds critical to 

communities and habitat for threatened and endangered fish. This investment will aid 

future restoration of Musselshell Meadows, a culturally important area to the Nez Perce 

Tribe. The investment will also expand the Nez Perce Tribe’s capability to costeward their 

ancestral homelands. Restoration treatments will contribute up to 250 million board feet 

to the timber industry over a 5- to 10-year period; treatments will also produce fuelwood 

and biomass for commercial use. Road improvement will enhance access for exercising 

Tribal treaty rights, recreation, and fire response while improving critical fisheries 

habitats.

Project goals include treating 5,000 acres in FY 2023 with a total of 55,000 acres treated 

over 5 years, including 2,500 acres of stream and wetland restoration.
20 21

FOREST SERVICE REGION

Pacific Northwest 

NATIONAL FOREST

Mt. Hood National Forest

STATE

Oregon

LANDSCAPE SIZE

1,081,355 acres

TRIBAL CONNECTIONS

Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs 

Reservation; Confederated Tribes of the 

Grand Ronde Community; Confederated 

Tribes of the Siletz Indians

PARTNERS

Oregon Department of Forestry; Oregon 

Department of Fish and Wildlife; Oregon 

Department of Agriculture; Job Corps; 

AmeriCorps; county and city governments; 

local fire districts and community planning 

organizations

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS

OR-2, OR-3, and OR-5

EXPECTED COMPLETION OF INITIAL 

TREATMENTS

2025

EXPECTED FUNDING, FY 2023

$4,500,000 

MOUNT HOOD FOREST HEALTH AND 

FIRE-RESILIENT COMMUNITIES

LANDSCAPES

LANDSCAPE HIGHLIGHTS

This landscape in northwest Oregon comprises Federal, State, Tribal, and private 

lands on and around the Mt. Hood National Forest (585,348 acres—54 percent of the 

project area—are on national forest land). The project area includes three firesheds, 

several wilderness areas, and the Bull Run watershed, which furnishes drinking water 

to nearly a million people in Portland and surrounding communities. More than a 

third of all Oregonians depend on water from this landscape. 

The landscape is highly urbanized, and the main economic drivers are natural 

resources and tourism. Twelve communities with a total population of more than 

200,000 adjoin the landscape, which annually hosts nearly 3 million visitors. 

Developed recreation includes four ski areas and a resort, along with extensive trails, 

reservoirs, and campgrounds. The Bonneville Power Administration and Portland 

General Electric have extensive utility corridors across the landscape. 

MECHANISMS FOR EXECUTION

Vegetation management and other fuels reduction work is guided by two strong 

forest collaboratives with a range of industry and nongovernmental partners, along 

with a newly formed fire mitigation partnership. At the Mt. Hood National Forest, 

we work with the Oregon Department of Forestry using Good Neighbor Agreements 

for fuels reduction projects and use a participation agreement through the Wyden 

Amendment and the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to fund 

treatments on lands managed by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Using 

these and other agreements with State and local governments, community planning 

organizations, local fire districts, Job Corps and other youth programs, and a newly 

established AmeriCorps partnership, we will carry out treatments on both National 

Forest System and other lands. We will also use a contracting group for large-scale 

noncommercial mechanical thinning, invasive weed removal, and other fuels 

reduction work. 

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

Our initial efforts will focus on treating firesheds on the east side of the Cascades. We 

will work with counties and local organizations to expand our capacity to complete 

treatments on the westside. Our work will protect municipal water sources in the 

Bull Run and The Dalles watersheds. We will coordinate all work on National Forest 

System lands with work on adjacent lands in other ownerships. 

Our goals include treating 4,400 acres in 2023 and 8,000 acres in 2024.
22 23

FOREST SERVICE REGIONS

Pacific Southwest and Pacific Northwest 

NATIONAL FORESTS

Modoc, Klamath, Six Rivers, Shasta-Trinity, 

and Fremont-Winema National Forests

STATES

California and Oregon

LANDSCAPE SIZE

10 million acres

TRIBAL CONNECTIONS

Klamath Tribes; Karuk Tribe; Yurok Tribe; 

Hoopa Valley Tribe; Quartz Valley Indian 

Reservation; Resighini Rancheria; Pit River 

Tribe; Shasta Indian Nation; Modoc Nation

PARTNERS

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; National 

Park Service; USDA Natural Resources 

Conservation Service; National Marine 

Fisheries Service; Oregon Department of 

Forestry; California Department of Forestry 

and Fire Protection; California Climate 

Investment Program; Western Klamath 

Restoration Partnership; Mid-Klamath 

Watershed Council; Klamath Lake Forest 

Health Partnership; community of Chiloquin; 

National Wild Turkey Federation

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS

CA-1 and CA-2; OR-2 

EXPECTED COMPLETION OF INITIAL 

TREATMENTS

FYs 2023—31

EXPECTED FUNDING, FY 2023

$35,400,000 

KLAMATH RIVER BASIN

LANDSCAPES

LANDSCAPE HIGHLIGHTS

At the Forest Service, we manage about 55 percent of the 10-million-acre Klamath 

Basin. These lands generate 80 percent of the mean annual surface water supply 

to the Klamath River. The area provides important habitat for fish listed under the 

Endangered Species Act. Fish like steelhead, salmon, and suckers are vital to the 

culture and well-being of Tribes in the Klamath Basin. Following the planned removal 

of four dams on the Klamath River, National Forest System lands will provide habitat 

for fish that have been excluded from the upper basin. 

For several decades, Federal, State, and other partners have warned that the Klamath 

Basin is in critical need of restoration. Catastrophic wildfires have damaged or 

degraded ecosystems and communities across five national forests in the Klamath 

Basin, a trend that is likely to continue as the climate becomes hotter and drier. The 

effects of a changing climate on hydrology and wildfire activity are degrading fish 

habitat, including contributing to habitat loss through postfire landslides. Many 

affected communities are in rural counties with some of the lowest median incomes 

in their respective States. 

MECHANISMS FOR EXECUTION

We will invest in projects in collaboration with Tribes and other partners. We will 

explore opportunities for new agreements to work with our Tribal, Federal, State, and 

other partners. We will also use innovative stewardship contracts, such as the Blue 

Mile G-Z Stewardship integrated resource service contract on the Fremont-Winema 

National Forest.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

In addition to reduced wildfire exposure and risk for communities within the 

Klamath Basin, we will improve watershed conditions and salmonid habitats in the 

face of climate change. These improvements will support underserved communities 

and local economies.

We will treat up to 52,080 acres in FY 2023: 37,510 in California and 14,570 in 

Oregon. At least 217,000 acres will be treated through FYs 2023–31. In addition to 

investments identified with announcing this landscape, our goal is to attract another 

$15 million in partner contributions.
24 25

FOREST SERVICE REGION

Intermountain 

NATIONAL FOREST

Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest

STATES

Nevada and California

LANDSCAPE SIZE

3.4 million acres 

TRIBAL CONNECTIONS

Bridgeport Indian Colony; South Fork Band 

of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone 

Indians of Nevada; Washoe Tribe of Nevada 

and California; Reno-Sparks Indian Colony; 

Mooretown Rancheria of Maidu Indians of 

California

PARTNERS

Nevada Shared Stewardship Priority 

Landscape Planning Groups; Nevada Division 

of Forestry; State of Nevada; NV Energy

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS

NV-2 and NV-4; CA-3

EXPECTED COMPLETION OF

INITIAL TREATMENTS

FYs 2023–26

EXPECTED FUNDING IN FY 2023

$57,375,000 

LANDSCAPE HIGHLIGHTS

The Sierra and Elko Fronts landscape includes the Sierra Front (about 2 million acres) 

and the Elko Front (about 1.4 million acres). National Forest System lands make up 

about 810,000 acres on the Sierra Front and 340,000 acres on the Elko Front, for a 

total of about 1.15 million acres (34 percent) across the entire landscape. Private/

other lands account for about 1.4 million acres (41 percent) of the entire project area, 

public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management comprise 720,000 acres (21 

percent), State lands make up 56,000 acres (2 percent), and Tribal lands account for 

35,000 acres (1 percent). 

The Sierra Front is in western Nevada and eastern California, adjacent to the 

metropolitan areas of Reno-Sparks and Carson City. With a total population of more 

than 600,000, the area includes more than 10 rural communities along its western 

flank. The proposed landscape boundaries generally align with the Sierra FrontCarson-Walker Shared Stewardship high-priority landscape and are adjacent to highrisk firesheds in the neighboring Pacific Southwest Region. 

The Elko Front, located in northeastern Nevada, encompasses about 20 rural 

communities, including the city of Elko. The landscape boundaries generally align 

with the Elko-Spring Creek-Lamoille and South Ruby Mountains Shared Stewardship 

high-priority landscapes. The landscape and adjacent communities are at high risk 

of catastrophic wildfire due to dense fuels, declining forest health, noxious weed 

infestations, persistent drought, and human-caused ignitions. 

MECHANISMS FOR EXECUTION

At the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, we will use existing agreements (with 

State, Federal, nongovernmental, and private partners) and regional office contracts, 

together with our 5-year vegetation and fuels plan, to step up the pace and scale of 

treatments and to chart a roadmap for annual implementation, planning, and funding 

needs. We will also develop any additional agreements and contracts needed to 

complete the work.

ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES

Our goal for this landscape is to reduce the exposure of people, communities, 

and natural resources to wildfire while sustaining and restoring healthy, resilient, 

fire-adapted forests. Working with our partners, we will reduce the exposure to 

wildfire for large cities, Tribal lands, rural communities, and watersheds. We will 

protect infrastructure, including utility, energy, and mining facilities; transportation 

corridors, such as Federal, State, and county highways and railroads; the Marine 

Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center; and recreation areas. Our work will 

also improve natural resources, including habitat for mule deer, sage grouse, and 

threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout. 

Landscape goals include treating 22,000 acres in FY 2023; 15,000 acres in FY 2024; 

and 208,000 acres over 7 to 10 years.

SIERRA AND ELKO FRONTS

LANDSCAPES
26 27

FOREST SERVICE REGION

Intermountain 

NATIONAL FOREST

Dixie National Forest

STATE

Utah

LANDSCAPE SIZE

402,000 acres

TRIBAL CONNECTIONS

Havasupai Tribe of the Havasupai 

Reservation; Hualapai Indian Tribe of the 

Hualapai Indian Reservation; Hopi Tribe of 

Arizona; Navajo Nation; Ute Indian Tribe of 

the Uintah & Ouray Reservation; Paiute Indian 

Tribe of Utah (Cedar Band of Paiutes, Shivwits 

Band of Paiutes); Las Vegas Tribes of Paiute 

Indians of the Las Vegas Indian Colony; San 

Juan Southern Paiute Tribe of Arizona; Kaibab 

Band of Paiute Indians of the Kaibab Indian 

Reservation; Moapa Band of Paiute Indians

PARTNERS

Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State 

Lands; Utah Division of Wildlife Resources; 

Utah’s Watershed Restoration Initiative; 

Washington County; Iron County; Bureau of 

Land Management; USDA Natural Resources 

Conservation Service; utility companies 

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

UT-2

EXPECTED COMPLETION OF

INITIAL TREATMENTS

 FYs 2023—26 

EXPECTED FUNDING FY 2023

 $6,915,000 

LANDSCAPE HIGHLIGHTS

The Pine Valley landscape is adjacent to St. George, UT, America’s fastest growing 

metropolitan area. The landscape encompasses about 250,000 acres of National Forest 

System lands (63 percent of the total project area) and 150,000 acres (37 percent) of 

lands in private ownership or under stewardship by the State of Utah or the Bureau of 

Land Management. The landscape’s low elevation and topography make it particularly 

susceptible to climate change and shifting fire patterns, creating an urgent need to 

reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire. 

MECHANISMS FOR EXECUTION

On the Dixie National Forest, we have well-established working relationships with 

Federal, State, local, and nongovernmental partners on projects to reduce wildfire risk 

across jurisdictional boundaries on the Pine Valley landscape. For the past 10 years, 

we have collaborated with Utah’s Watershed Restoration Initiative, which involves 

dozens of partners, in conducting vegetation treatments to reduce the exposure of 

infrastructure and natural resources to uncharacteristic wildfire. We have also carried 

out Shared Stewardship fuels projects in watersheds across the Pine Valley landscape 

and used Good Neighbor Authority for the past 15 years to complete key treatments. 

Through strong and lasting partnerships, we will use this investment to reduce 

wildfire exposure across the Pine Valley landscape.

ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES

Our work with our partners on this landscape will reduce wildfire risk to St. George 

and adjacent communities, many in the wildland-urban interface. We will reduce 

wildfire risk to infrastructure, including national travel corridors and energy 

networks. We will protect watersheds and water quality. A major goal is to reduce 

risks to communities both during and after wildfires by restoring and maintaining 

healthy, fire-adapted landscapes.

Our goals also include treating 6,554 acres in FY 2023 and at least 43,500 acres over 7 

to 10 years.

PINE VALLEY

LANDSCAPES
28 29

FOREST SERVICE REGION

Intermountain 

NATIONAL FOREST

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest

STATE

Utah 

LANDSCAPE SIZE

1.1 million acres 

TRIBAL CONNECTIONS

Confederated Tribes of the Goshute 

Reservation; Skull Valley Band of Goshute 

Indians of Utah; Northwestern Band of 

the Shoshone Nation; Ute Indian Tribe of 

the Uintah & Ouray Reservation; Eastern 

Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation; 

Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall 

Reservation

PARTNERS

Utah’s Watershed Restoration Initiative, 

including dozens of partners who contribute 

funding for fuels and forest health 

treatments to reduce wildfire risk; the 

fuels focus group for the central Wasatch 

Front, which includes the State of Utah, Salt 

Lake City Public Utilities, Salt Lake County, 

and Save Our Canyons; and the Summit 

and Wasatch County Collaborative Fuels 

Reduction Group 

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS

UT-1–4

EXPECTED COMPLETION OF

INITIAL TREATMENTS

Fiscal years 2023—26

EXPECTED FUNDING IN FY 2023

$18,250,000

LANDSCAPE HIGHLIGHTS

The Wasatch landscape encompasses approximately 1.1 million acres, including 

National Forest System, State, private, and Bureau of Land Management lands. Fire 

hazard on about 382,000 acres of the Wasatch landscape is classified as high or very 

high, threatening watersheds, plant and wildlife habitats, recreational opportunities, 

and private property. The landscape encompasses four high-risk firesheds, as well as 

high-priority landscapes under Utah’s Shared Stewardship agreement.

Northern Utah has some of the Nation’s fastest growing areas in the wildland-urban 

interface, with an increasing number of communities at risk of wildfire, 92 of which 

are within or adjacent to the landscape. Watersheds in the landscape furnish drinking 

water to more than 2 million people; these watersheds are highly sensitive to projected 

increases in drought, heat, and flooding, as well as the effects of wildfires, insect and 

disease outbreaks, and land use change. The landscape has more than 300 miles of 

regionally important energy infrastructure supporting the growing population of 

northern Utah. Recreational values and infrastructure in the area support more than 13 

million visitors a year, including a $1.4-billion ski industry with seven resorts (five on 

national forest lands). 

MECHANISMS FOR EXECUTION

At the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, we have a well-established framework 

for responding to the wildfire crisis across jurisdictional boundaries on the Wasatch 

landscape, including a history of collaboration with Federal, State, and local partners 

and nongovernmental organizations. For the past 10 years, we have collaborated 

extensively with Utah’s Watershed Restoration Initiative to plan and carry out 

vegetation treatments that reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire. 

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

We will reduce exposure to wildfire of private property and infrastructure in the 

wildland-urban interface through cross-boundary mechanical treatments. We 

will increase opportunities to use prescribed fire and wildland fire to support the 

suppression of wildfires by creating or strengthening strategic fuel breaks. This work 

will protect watersheds and restore forest health and resilience. 

Our goal is to treat 14,200 acres in FY 2023 and at least 105,000 acres over 7 to 10 years.

WASATCH

LANDSCAPES
30 31

FOREST SERVICE REGION

Pacific Northwest 

NATIONAL FOREST

Colville National Forest

STATE

Washington

LANDSCAPE SIZE

1.6 million acres

TRIBAL CONNECTIONS

Confederated Tribes of the Colville 

Reservation; Kalispel Tribe of Indians; 

Spokane Tribe of Indians

PARTNERS

Kalispel Tribe of Indians; Confederated Tribes 

of the Colville Reservation; Washington State 

Department of Natural Resources; Avista 

Power; Bonneville Power Administration; 

Seattle City Light

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS

WA-4 and WA-5

EXPECTED COMPLETION OF

INITIAL TREATMENTS

2032

EXPECTED FUNDING, FY 2023

$2,160,000 

COLVILLE NORTHEAST 

WASHINGTON VISION

LANDSCAPES

LANDSCAPE HIGHLIGHTS

Adjacent to the Colville Reservation in northeastern Washington, communities 

within this landscape include Tonasket, Republic, Colville, Chewelah, Metaline Falls, 

Ione, and Newport. Critical infrastructure in the landscape includes State Routes 395 

and 20 and large energy facilities, including biomass and hydropower. In addition, 

the landscape has vital habitat for species listed or proposed for listing under the 

Endangered Species Act, including Canada lynx, grizzly bear, whitebark pine, 

woodland caribou, and bull trout.

MECHANISMS FOR EXECUTION

On the Colville National Forest, we rely heavily on the health of the local wood 

products industry and will use stewardship contracts and partnership agreements 

to complete project work. The local wood products industry can support fuels 

treatments and stewardship contracts by processing biomass, small-diameter logs, 

and larger materials. This industry can also help generate the revenues needed to pay 

for followup noncommercial work, allowing us to achieve goals for fuels reduction 

and forest health. In addition to local industry, other partners such as Tribal, State, 

and local governments will help us execute contracts, augment our workforce, and 

maintain healthy forests at the landscape scale.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

Building on relationships with Tribal Governments, the Washington State 

Department of Natural Resources, timber industry partners, and collaborative 

groups, our work will focus on improving the resilience of fire-adapted landscapes. 

We will also reduce fuels to limit wildfire impacts and the risk of catastrophic wildfire 

and improve prospects for postfire recovery. Our current fuels treatment projects 

will be expanded to broaden the scale of active forest management. The local wood 

products industry—already an integral partner—will become larger and more 

versatile. Communities and critical infrastructure will be better protected and receive 

better support for postfire recovery.

Our goals include treating 2,000 acres per year, with a total of 20,000 acres over the 

next 10 years. 
32 33

This new round of 11 landscapes, made possible through funding under 

the Inflation Reduction Act, gives us at the Forest Service and our partners 

fresh opportunities to reduce wildfire risk across high-risk firesheds and 

restore fire-adapted western forests to health and resilience. Nevertheless, 

we still face major challenges, including barriers to Federal hiring, 

nationwide labor shortages, rising housing costs, and lack of available 

housing, especially in rural areas where the work is needed most. We also 

remain well short of the resources needed to complete all of the work 

called for in the Wildfire Crisis Strategy.

With our partners, we will continue to seek solutions to the challenges 

we face, partly by finding new ways of working together. Working with 

partners, we are building public support for the needed work, moving 

efficiently through environmental review, and coping with the complexity 

of prescribed fire in the wildland-urban interface. Across the West, we are 

also exploring creative ways of increasing our workforce capacity, such as 

using specialized teams on key landscapes and improving the way we track 

our treatments and the benefits that people get from them. In the longer 

term, we will need additional support from both Congress and outside 

stakeholders to fully implement the Wildfire Crisis Strategy.

The wildfire crisis in the West is a national emergency. On these additional 

11 landscapes, we will rise to the challenge by placing the right treatments 

at the scale needed to match the scale of wildfire risk. We are working in 

a way that meets the urgency of the moment, and we invite our partners 

and the people we serve to help us shift to this new paradigm for land 

management. We need a large multijurisdictional coalition of partners and 

stakeholders to help us carry out our Wildfire Crisis Strategy and reduce 

wildfire risk across fire-adapted western landscapes. Our work would 

not be possible without our partners, and we will continue to embrace 

partnerships as the key to our collective success.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Wasatch landscape encompasses 

approximately 1.1 million acres, including 

National Forest System, State, private, and 

Bureau of Land Management lands. Fire 

hazard on about 382,000 acres of the Wasatch 

landscape is classified as high or very high, 

threatening watersheds, plant and wildlife 

habitats, recreational opportunities, and 

private property. USDA Forest Service photo.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Given the scale of the wildfire crisis, fully achieving our 

goals under the Wildfire Crisis Strategy will take time, 

but we have already begun ramping up our fuels and 

forest health treatments. A progress summary outlines 

initial projects across 10 of the highest priority western 

landscapes and some of our first accomplishments.
34 35

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations 

and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering 

USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender 

identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, 

income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights 

activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies 

and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, 

large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible Agency or USDA’s TARGET 

Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. 

Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD3027, found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter 

addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the 

complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, 

D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

KEY SCIENCE

Ager, A.A.; Day, M.A.; Palaiologou, P. [and others]. 2019. Cross-boundary wildfire and community 

exposure: a framework and application in the Western U.S. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-392. Fort 

Collins, CO: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 36 p. 

Ager, A.A.; Evers, C.R.; Day, M.A. [and others]. 2021. Planning for future fire: scenario analysis of 

an accelerated fuel reduction plan for the Western United States. Landscape and Urban Planning. 

215. November: 104212.

Ager, A.A.; Day, M.A.; Ringo, C. [and others]. 2021. Development and application of the Fireshed 

Registry. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS–GTR–425. Fort Collins, CO: USDA Forest Service, Rocky 

Mountain Research Station. 47 p.

Martinuzzi, S.; Stewart, S.I.; Helmers, D.P. [and others]. 2015. The 2010 wildland-urban interface 

of the conterminous United States. Res. Map NRS-8. Newtown Square, PA: USDA Forest Service, 

Northern Research Station. 124 p.

Cover Photo: Lava Mountain Fire, Shoshone National Forest, WY. USDA Forest Service photo by Kristen Honig.
36

WILDFIRE CRISIS

strategy