Over the last five years, over $14 billion has been appropriated to the National Fire Plan (NFP). During this time of large federal deficits and increasing pressure to re-examine federal budget priorities, the question must be asked whether these taxpayer dollars have promoted safer communities and more resilient ecosystems. Suppression costs have skyrocketed of late, with the Forest Service’s fire suppression costs exceeding $1 billion in four of the last seven years. These escalating costs threaten to consume the Forest Service’s entire discretionary budget. Wildland fire management activities (the largest component of which is suppression) rose from 13% of the agency’s budget in fiscal year 1991 to a staggering 45% projected for fiscal year 2008.

Federal Fire Management Changing Direction, But More Work is Necessary
The Fiscal Year 2008 Forest Service budget proposes some important shifts in the way fire is managed, introducing the concept of a “risk-based fire suppression approach.” This means that wildland fires would be suppressed on a priority basis as determined by considering private property, infrastructure and human values at greatest risk and setting suppression priorities accordingly (this strategy is also sometimes referred to as “Appropriate Management Response” or “AMR”). The main reason the agency cites for making this change is to reduce suppression costs.

The agency is moving in the right direction by acknowledging that not all wildland fires need to be managed the same way. This is important because the past several decades of aggressively suppressing all wildland fires has thrown ecosystems out of balance, and in many places has actually increased the risk of unnaturally severe fire through the buildup of highly flammable fuels. While the Forest Service’s proposed changes in fire management are promising, it’s important to remember there are no “overnight” solutions.

The agency must:

• Ensure that adequate monitoring is in place to evaluate, and adapt if necessary, this new “risk-based suppression” approach.
• Recognize that managing fire in this way is not only good economically, but good ecologically. That means that Wildland Fire Use (WFU), the practice of actively managing naturally-burning fires in designated sections of forests to accomplish resource management goals, must be an explicit component of this new “risk-based suppression approach” (or AMR). WFU is widely accepted by scientists, policymakers and land managers as an important tool not only to help mitigate the escalating costs of fire suppression, but also to help restore forest ecosystems and make them more resilient. The Forest Service’s FY08 budget recognizes that WFU needs to be expanded to reduce suppression costs, but the ecological values of WFU also need to be reinforced.
• Integrate non-federal stakeholders, particularly from those communities that will be impacted by these management changes on federal lands. That means that community fire assistance programs will be increasingly critical; however, the proposed funding for these programs continues to decline in FY2008.

The Table below provides an overview of proposed funding for the Wildland Fire budget for FY2008 and the two prior fiscal years, including proposed changes from FY2007 funding for each line item.

± This is a new account proposed for FY08.
* The FY07 amount is based on the final CR for FY 2007, H.J. Res.20 (P-L. 110-5) which appropriated funds for most accounts equal to those appropriated in the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-54). This number includes rescissions applied to the FY06 funds. Exceptions to this were funding for: Suppression and Hazardous Fuels, which were increased in the CR from FY06 amounts. The total for Wildland Fire in the 2007 CR was $1,816,091. This total is slightly higher because it includes funding for State Fire Assistance and Volunteer Fire Assistance from both the Wildland Fire and the State and Private Forestry accounts.
** These accounts include funding from both Wildland Fire and State and Private Forestry.

The following briefs provide some additional information about Wildland Fire Use, the proposed community fire assistance budget for FY2008, as well as suggestions for funding State Fire Assistance and Suppression.

Wildland Fire Use
Wildland Fire Use (WFU) is the practice of actively managing naturally-ignited fires in designated sections of forests to accomplish resource management goals. WFU is widely accepted by scientists, policymakers and land managers as an important tool not only to help mitigate the escalating costs of fire suppression, but also to help restore forests and make them more resilient. This Fact Sheet provides more information on this management tool and how it can be expanded.
>> View factsheet (PDF)

Community Fire Assistance Budget Continues to Decline in FY 08
Programs have been designed to help states and localities promote fire-adapted communities in fire-resilient landscapes. Funding for these programs has declined since FY 2002 and that trend continues in FY 2008. This brief provides information on these community fire assistance programs and examines funding for those programs in the FY 08 budget.
>> View factsheet (PDF) 

Funding for Non-Federal and Federal Fire Management Needs to Be Better Balanced
Less than 10% of the $14 billion appropriated to the National Fire Plan in the last five years has gone to non-federal partners. This brief describes how funding can be redistributed to better balance non-federal and federal fire funding to help insure more effective national fire management.
>> View factsheet (PDF)

Supplemental Wildfire Suppression Account Should Be Maintained, but Long-Term Solution Needed
Recognizing that past borrowing of funds from other agency programs for wildland fire suppression caused project cancellations, strained relationships with partners, and disruptions in management, Congress established a supplemental wildfire suppression account to preclude that practice. This brief provides a history of the account, why it should be maintained, and information on efforts to develop long-term solutions to address suppression funding.
>> View factsheet (PDF)

TWS’s Wildland Fire Appropriations Coalition Work

In keeping with the guiding principles of The Wilderness Society’s wildland fire program - that “fire” can be used in a positive and proactive way to bring communities of interest together and that finding and building common ground with diverse interests is key to defining success on the ground - we work in coalition with a variety of diverse organizations on issues related to wildland fire management. Our coalition work brings groups from across the spectrum of interested stakeholders together, including groups that don’t traditionally work with one another. We partner with other conservation groups, professional foresters, rural communities, county commissioners, state organizations, hunters and anglers, and others. We are currently engaged in efforts (1) to better fund community fire assistance through the State Fire Assistance program and (2) help develop long-term solutions to address the budget effects of escalating fire suppression costs.

TWS Works With Diverse Coalition to Help Address Community Fire Assistance Needs
A newly-formed coalition of forestry, government, and conservation groups has come together with the shared goal of improving state and community wildfire protection. An essential requirement to meeting this goal is support for the State Fire Assistance Program. The State Fire Assistance Program (SFA) provides funds to state forestry agencies to help communities successfully prepare for and manage wildland fires, including funding for Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs).
>> View coalition materials: SFA Factsheet and SFA Highlights (PDF); letters from coalition to U.S. Senate committee and U.S House committee regarding the SFA (PDF)