National Fire Plan
Sparks Regional Approaches

By Kelly Novak, Research Manager, NADO Research Foundation

Two years into the new millennium, and the United States has already experienced the worst fire seasons on record. In 2000 wildland fires swept through the Pacific Northwest, sometimes reaching speeds of almost a mile a minute and leaving a little more than one and a half million acres in Idaho ablaze, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise. In 2001 the Pacific Northwest continued to be plagued with firestorms, with Washington state’s Thirty Mile fire taking the lives of four Forest Service employees.

These intense and sometimes catastrophic fire seasons have made local, state and federal agency collaboration a national priority, and regional approaches to prevention and response are encouraged. The federal government is taking on a holistic approach by making local capacity building and smart-minded economic resources available to regions through the National Fire Plan (the Plan), the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA’s) disaster mitigation program and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters program.

Intense and sometimes catastrophic fire seasons have made agency collaboration a national priority.

National Fire Plan

The Plan, now in its third year of implementation, mandated an agreement between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Interior (DOI), requiring that each contribute to the Plan’s programs and the development of the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise, Idaho.

The Plan’s programs and NIFC are focused on responding to severe wildland fires and reducing their impacts on rural communities. The Plan’s Urban Wildland Interface Communities initiative, in which fire protection, education and assistance are aimed at communities located near federal and Indian Trust lands, has been the impetus for many of the Plan’s community assistance programs.

Programs that receive funds from USDA and DOI under the Plan include the FIREWISE communities program, an economic action program, rural assistance, volunteer assistance and state assistance opportunities. The programs prepare and teach communities how to become more fire resistant by using simple techniques, like clearing brush, moving firewood away from homes, setting up sprinkler systems and removing trees near buildings.

In many rural communities where there is a lack of local resources, regional development organizations are providing the local technical assistance and staff needed to take advantage of the Plan’s programs.

Oklahoma Districts Fight Fires

Under the plan, Oklahoma contracts with regional development organizations for fire coordination. EDA funded districts, like the Kiamichi Economic Development District of Oklahoma (KEDDO), a seven county region on Oklahoma’s Texas-Arkansas border, houses a regional fire coordinator.

KEDDO receives $75,000 annually to support rural fire defense services. Last year these funds helped build two volunteer firefighter training centers and coordinate the submission of several successful grant applications to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters program. Larry Morgan, KEDDO’s fire coordinator, said, “The training centers and equipment are rounding out our Wildland Interface Community tools, giving us the capacity to protect structures from fire.”

Each training center costs approximately $275,000 and was funded directly through the Plan and state programs, with local matches from county and city governments. Funding for volunteer fire equipment, (fire protection clothing and trucks) was obtained through the FEMA Assistance to Firefighters program.

Economic Opportunity

Colorado, now heading into what might be one of the biggest fire seasons due to drought, has turned fire mitigation into an economic opportunity. Using revolving loan funds from the Plan’s Economic Action Program and EDA disaster mitigation funds, Region Nine, a four-county EDA funded district in southwest Colorado, is fostering business growth and diversifying the economic base. “We have followed the federal government’s holistic approach, encouraging value-added entrepreneurships that also improves forest health and reduces fire fuels,” explained Ed Morlan, Region Nine’s Executive Director.

The Plan’s Four Corners Sustainable Forests Partnership revolving loan fund is financed by the USDA Forest Service. Region Nine used the RLF to provide forestry-related, value-added business development loans. The loan fund has supported the development of a firewood cutting service, and a wood mill operation that uses small diameter woods to produce furniture.

Carla Harper, the revolving loan fund’s Colorado Coordinator explained, “We are actually taking advantage of being a wildland interface region. We are growing economic opportunity and diversification, while at the same time removing fire fuels. A great deal of the success comes from Region Nine’s partnership-building experience and their knowledge of local resources.”

EDA disaster mitigation funds are also being used to develop a business incubator to encourage forestry-related entrepreneurship. Morlan noted, “In the long run, we save on costs by saving homes from burning and preventing air pollution alerts that lead to increased health costs. We are saving lives and natural resources while building sustainability.”

For More Information Contact:Chester Dennis, Kiamichi EDD of Oklahoma, 918/465-2367; Ed Morlan, Region Nine EDD of Southwest Colorado, Inc., 970/247-9621; The National Fire Plan visit www.fireplan.gov; FIREWISE Communities visit www.firewise.org; National Interagency Fire Center in Idaho visit www.nifc.gov or call 208/387-5512.

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