Handbook Helps At-Risk Communities Better Prepare for Wildfires

A coalition of organizations concerned about protecting communities from catastrophic wildfires has released a step-by-step handbook that guides local communities in wildfire prone areas to better prepare and reduce the future risks of catastrophic wildfires. The handbook, developed jointly by the Society of American Foresters, the National Association of State Foresters (NASF), the National Association of Counties (NACo), the Western Governors Association (WGA), and the Communities Committee of the Seventh American Forest Congress, and endorsed by the Southern Governors Association, offers a detailed description of how to create a community wildfire protection plan as allowed by the Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA).

"During the last several fire seasons, wildfires, particularly in the West, have burned more and more acreage on average and devastated the lives of thousands of people," says Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne, WGA's Co-Lead Governor for Forest Health. "When fires burn near homes, they often result in unacceptable risk to the lives of residents and firefighters. This risk won't be diminishing any time in the near future as the growing conflict in the wildland and urban interface continues. We need to give those people the help they need to protect their lives and their property."

“The HFRA provides communities with an opportunity to influence where and how federal agencies implement fuel reduction projects on federal lands and how additional federal funds may be distributed for projects on nonfederal lands,” says Michael T. Goergen, SAF’s executive vice-president and CEO. “Preparation and proactive treatments are necessities when striving to protect communities from the risks of wildfires.

The handbook, titled Preparing a Community Wildfire Protection Plan: A Handbook for Wildland–Urban Interface Communities, explains who should be involved in developing a plan, how to convene interested parties, what elements to consider in assessing community risks and priorities, and how to develop a mitigation or protection plan to address those risks.

“NASF encourages communities to prepare for wildfire through development of these plans," said Burney Fischer, president of the National Association of State Foresters and state forester of Indiana. "While designed to help communities utilize new authorities under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, the guide is also intended to be useful for all communities at risk from fire, regardless of their proximity to federal lands."

According to the formula outlined in the HFRA, and detailed in the handbook, the planning process will be led by local governments working with area fire departments and the state agency responsible for forest management. They will collaborate with the USDA Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), if appropriate, as well as other interested partners. The handbook is designed to complement the recently released interim field guidelines for the HFRA published by the USDA Forest Service and the BLM.

"Collaborative community involvement in addressing wildfire risk in the interface will encourage private landowners to become active players in the effort, reducing hazardous fuels on their properties and taking other needed steps to complement the work occurring on public lands," notes Carol Daly, president of the Communities Committee.

A community wildfire protection plan has two objectives. First, it identifies and prioritizes the surrounding area, including both federal and nonfederal lands, for hazardous fuels reduction treatments, as well as recommends methods for achieving hazardous fuels reductions. Second, the plan outlines measures for reducing fire damage to structures throughout at-risk communities. Completion of a wildland fire protection plan will also earn communities priority for funding of hazardous fuels reduction projects carried out under the auspices of the Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003.

“This handbook is a call to action,” says Sherry Krulitz, chair of NACo’s Public Lands Steering Committee and commissioner of Shoshone County, Idaho. “NACo urges county officials across the country to use it to bring their communities to a common table to hammer out strong wildfire protection plans.

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Click here to download the Community Wildfire Protection Plan Handbook.