Wildland Fire Leadership Council Meetings

Wildland Fire Leadership Council Meeting
July 11, 2002

Members/Designees in Attendance

Also

Introduction and Welcome to New Participants

New participants from the National Association of State Foresters, National Governors Association, National Association of Counties, Intertribal Timber Council, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, were welcomed to Leadership Council.

Review of Business Materials

The Leadership Council Memorandum of Understanding was briefly reviewed.

Meeting notes from the June 4, 2002 meeting were reviewed and accepted.

The meeting schedule was reviewed.

• The proposed September meeting date was postponed until October 16th, 2002, due to the potential for the 2003 Fuels List (the primary agenda topic) to be delayed until the beginning of October.
• The January Leadership Council and National Fire Plan Conference (to be held concurrently) will be held in the South. National Fire Plan Staff will work with James Hull to solidify location.

Business Protocols were briefly reviewed and approved as written.

Fire Management Plan Template

A brief overview of the Fire Management Plan Template was provided. The Template was approved and the transmittal letter signed.

Fire Season Update

A brief overview of the fire season was presented including the projections for fire season moving north into Northern California, Utah, Oregon and Montana, and the potential for monsoon moisture to be delayed in the Southwest. The Northern area fire season appears to be about 30 days ahead of schedule. Approximately 99.8 percent of initial attacks are successful as of this week. Concern regarding the age of the current air tanker fleet was raised and was identified as an issue for Fire and Aviation Management.

The issue was raised regarding the importance of media attention on Community Assistance and Rehabilitation/ Restoration in addition to the standard attention to Suppression and Firefighting. It was noted that the National Fire Plan is more than just suppression and we need to focus attention, raise awareness and highlight the Rehabilitation efforts and the Community Assistance grants to States that are making a difference on the ground. Another opportunity to highlight actions is to discuss all of the preventative actions that are occurring in areas not currently fighting fire.

It was suggested that a joint Secretarial visit to the Hayman fire and the Denver area to highlight rehabilitation would be excellent. Discussions regarding the collaboration that is occurring with rehabilitation, and a discussion regarding community assistance with tribal entities could be part of the event.

Presentation and Discussion of the Action Plans for the 10-year Implementation Plan Task List

The process for the review was discussed. It was requested that there be a brief overview, hitting the highlights, then each participant would take the Action Plans back to Staff for a more thorough review. Edits would be made as necessary to reflect the more thorough review and collaborative effort. Several participants reflected on the excellent work that has occurred so quickly after the signing of the 10-year Implementation Plan.

Specific highlights of the Action Plans:

• Goal 1 Task A-Needs to be done in collaboration with States and others. The end product must be clear and understandable to all.
• Goal 2 Task F-Action items are excellent, however there needs to be more involvement by those pursuing the actions. Timeframes may be unrealistically tight. A concern was raised regarding the consultation with both NIMFS and USFWS occurring over the same land at the same time. A suggestion for a MOU giving authority to USFWS for consultation was discussed and had general support from the Council. Follow-up on the issue will be done by USFWS.
• Goal 2 Task C-Contracting/Grants-Needs work to incorporate all agencies, the states, and tribes.
• Goal 2 Task E-Clarification is needed regarding Rehabilitation of burned areas and Restoration of fire adapted ecosystems. The terms are being used somewhat interchangeably. Restoration is a term that will be used in association with hazardous fuels treatments, and Rehabilitation will be referenced as treatments to burned areas. It was recommended and approved that Goal 3 Task C be merged into Goal 2 Task E and Goal 3 Task C be deleted from the Goal/Task listing.

State participation in Action Plan development was discussed with the State Forester representative indicating that States take their participation very seriously. They are committed to delivering the States part of the Implementation Plan and are interested in determining a sequence of progression with the Action Plans versus trying to accomplish all 23 tasks at once.

Sequencing of Action Plans was discussed and a tentative progression of the plans distributed. Any comments or changes from the Leadership Council on the sequence of the Action Plans are due to the National Fire Plan Coordinators by 7/25/02.

Due to fire season and other work impacts, the following list represents a sequencing of Action Plans to methodically move through accomplishment as described in the Goals and Tasks in the 10-year Implementation Plan.

Interagency Cohesive Strategy

A brief overview of the Interagency Cohesive Strategy was presented with specific mention of how the Leadership Council's requests for modification were incorporated. The Council approved the document as written with no further edits required. A signature page for the Agency leads to sign will be developed immediately.

Next Wildland Fire Leadership Council Meeting

Date: October 16th, 2002 (full day)
Location: Small community in the Denver area
Meeting Emphasis: Review of 2003 Hazardous Fuels Project List, Rehabilitation work on the Hayman Fire, and Community Assistance (Volunteer Fire Assistance). Also, lessons learned from the fire season, including a review of what occurred, what needs to be modified, and what went well. A media event to discuss the focus on Rehabilitation and Community Assistance will be incorporated. Kit Kimball volunteered to assist with meeting coordination.

(Due to the late date of the meeting, coordination of the Hazardous Fuels Project List for 2003 will occur as necessary to meet other deadlines)

National Fire Plan Conference-January 2003

Date: January 14-15, 2003
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana

The Wildland Fire Leadership Council will host the National Fire Plan Conference. Jim Hull-NASF will coordinate with National Fire Plan Staff regarding location and logistics.

An Awards Banquet will be held. An awards program proposal was reviewed and the general agreement was to reduce the number of awards slightly. The National Fire Plan Coordinators will finalize the NFP Award categories and release a call letter for award nominations shortly.

Federal Wildland Fire Policy

Larry Hamilton presented a brief overview of the history of the federal fire policy and what actions are currently being pursued. (handout) The NWCG has chartered a task group to develop an Implementation Plan for the 2001 Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy. The Task Group is comprised of 11 members representing all Federal wildland fire agencies and the National Association of State Foresters. The Task Group has been charged with developing four products:

1. Fire Management Policy Decision Flow Chart
2. Description of influences on policy, setting the larger context (budget, complementary planning protocols, other policy, etc.)
3. Policy framework (a document which simplifies and unifies the policy among all agencies)
4. 2001 Wildland Fire Management Policy-Implementation Actions ( a close-out and crosswalk on implementation items assigned in the original policy report)

The Task Group invited the WFLC to review and comment on their work and extended an invitation to attend any of the 6 meetings being held on the subject. When asked whether the WFLC would like to take a more active role in the Federal Fire Policy Implementation Plan, it was conveyed that the NWCG is the appropriate location for this work to be done, with the WFLC being updated periodically.

Bin Items

FEMA was formalized as a participant in the Wildland Fire Leadership Council.

John Howard (NACo), handed out information on Zoning ordinances, County National Fire Plan projects and budgets, and a fire prevention informational newspaper insert.

James Hull conveyed correspondence appointing him as the NASF representative to the Wildland Fire Leadership Council.