Policy mandates for development of FMPs come from two main sources: the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy (1995 and 2001), and the Ten-Year Comprehensive Strategy (2002).

The 1995 Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy and Program Review

The 1995 Federal Wildland Fire Policy was developed in the wake of the terrible 1994 fire season in which 34 of the nation’s most elite trained and equipped firefighters died in the line of duty. The 1995 Fire Policy called for a fundamental shift in agency philosophy and cultural attitudes toward fire, the integration of fire management with forest and resource management objectives, and the full involvement of interagency partners and the public in fire management. This effectively expanded the mission of fire managers beyond their traditional duties of preventing or suppressing wildfires to include reducing fuel hazards and restoring fire-adapted ecosystems.

Concretely, the Fire Policy elevated the critical importance of proactive fire management planning, discussing FMPs in four of the Policy’s nine Guiding Principles. The implications of the Policy's mandate, "Develop FMPs for all areas subject to wildland fires," is that practically all of the federal landbase must rightfully undergo fire planning. The following interagency policies specifically detailed the role of FMPs in federal fire management programs:

* "Firefighter and public safety is the first priority. All Fire Management Plans and activities must reflect this commitment. (p.5)

* "Every area with burnable vegetation must have an approved Fire Management Plan. Fire Management Plans must be consistent with firefighter and public safety, values to be protected, and land and resource management plans and must address public health issues. Fire Management Plans must also address all potential wildland fire occurrences and include the full range of fire management actions." (emphasis added) (p.5)

* "Fire, as a critical natural process, will be integrated into land and resource management plans and activities on a landscape scale, across agency boundaries, and will be based on the best available science. All use of fire for resource management requires a formal prescription. Management actions taken on wildland fires will be consistent with approved Fire Management Plans." (p.5)

* "Fire management planning, preparedness, suppression, fire use, monitoring, and research will be conducted on an interagency basis with the involvement of all partners." (emphasis added) (p.5)


In addition to these broad Guiding Principles and Policies, the federal agencies pledged that FMPs will:

* use information about fire regimes, current conditions, and land management objectives as a basis to develop fire management goals and objectives;

* address all potential wildland fire occurrences and include a full range of fire management actions;

* use new knowledge and monitoring results to revise fire management goals, objectives, and actions;

* be linked closely to land and resource management plans." (p.10)


In May, 1996 an Implementation Action Plan Report ( the "Action Plan") was created in order to put the Fire Policy into practice. The development of FMPs for all areas subject to wildland fires was listed under the category of "Action Items to be Implemented Immediately," and put at the top of the list of 83 different Action Items. The Action Plan clarified an important point that "Individual field units are responsible for FMP development. They must involve their fire management partners and the public." (emphasis original)

The 2001 Review and Update of the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy

The 2000 fire season was another episode of extreme drought conditions and large-scale, high-intensity wildfires that overwhelmed the capacity of federal agencies to adequately manage the fire situation. In response, the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture ordered an intensive review of the status of the 1995 Fire Policy and its implementation. The 2001 Review and Update of the 1995 Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy (the "Policy Update") found no fundamental flaws with the Fire Policy, but it did find several critical deficiencies in the agency's incomplete and inconsistent implementation of the Policy. In a concurrent but independent review of the implementation status of the Fire Policy, the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) discovered that only two out of the 83 Action Items had been completed, more than 60% of the action items were still in the process of being implemented and needed more work, and almost 30% had either not been started or were seriously deficient. Not surprisingly, the NAPA report listed Policy-compliant FMPs under the category of "1995 Fire Policy Action Items Not Implemented." Indeed, the Policy Update found that many areas did not have FMPs that met the requirements of the Fire Policy, and that many existing FMPs needed updating and integration with underlying Forest Plans. The document noted that, "In some cases underlying land management plans require revisions before fire management plans can be fully written or revised" (p.47); but, the Update repeatedly stated that, "the existence of obsolete land management plans should not be reason for failure to complete or update FMPs." (p.26) The bottom line was that "(S)uccessful implementation of 2001 Federal Fire Policy depends on the development and implementation of high-quality FMPs by all land managing agencies."

The 2001 Update was supposed to replace the 1995 Fire Policy, and it reaffirmed the critical role of FMPs in four of the nine Guiding Principles, six of the 17 Policy Statements, and four of the 11 Implementation Actions. Accordingly, the Policy Update stated that
"Fire Management Plans that that implement Federal Fire Policy must be completed as soon as possible. All land management agencies should place a high priority on completion of these plans. If necessary, land management plans should be updated, revised, or amended to allow full implementation of Federal Fire Policy."


Some 2001 Update improved the 1995 Fire Policy by including additional rationale and mandates for fire planning:

* "FMPs and programs will be based on a foundation of sound science." (p.23)

* "FMPs and land management plans will appropriately incorporate mitigation, burned area rehabilitation, and fuels reduction and restoration activities that contribute to ecosystem sustainability." (p.24)

* "Base responses to wildland fires on approved FMPs and land management plans, regardless of ignition source or the location of the ignition. The management response to fires, regardless of source, must be based on the approved FMP. FMPs, based on land management objectives of the area, guide the appropriate response through criteria and prescriptions." (p.25)


This last item, a "strategic implementation action," is not being implemented because Forest Service officials philosophically oppose it, and want to preserve the power to sue private individuals who accidentally or intentionally start fires. Consequently, all human-caused ignitions unplanned and unwanted by the agency continue to be aggressively suppressed. If and when high-quality FMPs are developed in the future, they should contain the management parameters that would enable unplanned fires to burn under prescribed conditions for carefully planned ecological objectives--even if they are accidental human-caused fires. This would be a prime beneficial outcome of developing FMPs and a dramatic improvement in fire management.

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

Another response to the severe 2000 fire season was the effort spearheaded by the Western Governor's Association (WGA) to bring together the federal agencies, State and county governments, and private stakeholders to develop new fire management policies. The result was the policy document, "A Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment: 10-Year Comprehensive Strategy" (the "Comprehensive Strategy") This effort was directed, in part, by the Congressional Conference Committee Report for the 2001 Interior Appropriations Act (Public Law 106-291) that funded the National Fire Plan. The four Goals of the 10-Year Strategy are:

* Improve Fire Prevention and Suppression

* Reduce Hazardous Fuels

* Restore Fire-Adapted Ecosystems

* Promote Community Assistance


The Guiding Principles of the 10-Year Strategy are:

* PRIORITY SETTING that emphasizes the protection of communities and other high-priority watersheds at risk.

* COLLABORATION among governments and broadly representative stakeholders.

* ACCOUNTABILITY through performance measures and monitoring for results.


In August, 2001, the Bush Administration formally endorsed the Comprehensive Strategy, making it a key component of implementing the National Fire Plan.

In May, 2002, Bush Administration formally endorsed an Implementation Plan and set of Performance Measures for the Comprehensive Strategy and National Fire Plan. Not surprisingly, planning was put at the top of the list of items needed to focus on in order to implement the Strategy's core principles, goals and actions.

Two Implementation Tasks related to FMPs and Hazardous Fuels Reduction were:

* "Develop a FMP template that incorporates the objectives and priorities established through the 10-Year Strategy and determine a schedule for implementation." (p.12)

* "Utilize, as appropriate, the USDA Forest Service’s and Department of Interior’s combined Cohesive Strategy for all FMPs." (p.12)

Additionally, two Performance Measures were developed that would reward fire managers for increasing:

* "percent of burnable acres covered in federal FMPs in compliance with Federal Wildland Fire Policy" ( p.10)

* "percent of communities-at-risk with completed and current FMPs or risk assessments" (p.15)

Development of collaborative FMPs was an essential implementation task and performance measure for accomplishing the goals of improving suppression, reducing hazardous fuels, restoring fire-adapted ecosystems, and promoting community assistance. The fact that the Comprehensive Strategy was developed, in part, under Congressional direction gives the document more of the status of a legal mandate. Citizens should feel empowered to cite the Comprehensive Strategy and enlist the support of their State and local governments to advocate for developing collaborative, community-based FMPs that prioritize community protection and hold agencies accountable for implementing the Fire Policy.