The Forest Service and four Interior agencies—the Bureau of Indian  Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and  National Park Service—are responsible for wildland fire management. Agencies’ Efforts to Implement a New Approach to Managing Wildland Fire Have Better Positioned Them to Respond to Fire Effectively

The Forest Service and the Interior agencies have improved their  understanding of wildland fire’s role on the landscape and have taken  important steps toward improving their ability to cost-effectively protect  communities and resources. Under this policy, the  agencies abandoned their attempt to put out every wildland fire, seeking  instead to (1) make communities and resources less susceptible to being  damaged by wildland fire and (2) respond to fires so as to protect  communities and important resources at risk but also to consider both the  cost and long-term effects of that response. These steps include reducing hazardous fuels,  in an effort to keep wildland fires from spreading into the wildland-urban  interface and to help protect important resources by lessening a fire’s  intensity. The agencies have also taken steps to foster fire-resistant communities. In addition, the agencies have made improvements laying important  groundwork for enhancing their response to wildland fire, including:    Implementing the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy. Acquiring and using firefighting assets effectively. Agencies Have Yet to Take Certain Key Actions That Would Substantially Improve Their Management of Wildland Fire

Despite the important steps the agencies have taken, much work remains. We have previously recommended several key actions that, if completed,  would improve the agencies’ management of wildland fire. Completing an investment strategy that  lays out various approaches for reducing fuels and responding to wildland  fires and the estimated costs associated with each approach and the trade- offs involved—what we have termed a cohesive strategy—is essential for  Congress and the agencies to make informed decisions about effective and  affordable long-term approaches for addressing the nation’s wildland fire  problems. Establish a cost-containment strategy. Although these documents do provide overarching goals  and objectives, they lack the clarity and specificity needed by land  management and firefighting officials in the field to help manage and  contain wildland fire costs. As a result, despite the improvements the agencies are  making to policy, decision support tools, and oversight, we believe that  managers in the field lack a clear understanding of the relative importance  that the agencies’ leadership places on containing costs and—as we  concluded in our 2007 report—are therefore likely to continue to select  firefighting strategies without duly considering the costs of suppression. Clearly define financial responsibilities for fires that cross  jurisdictions. Without such clarification, the concerns  that the existing framework insulates nonfederal entities from the cost of  protecting the wildland-urban interface from fire—and that the federal  government, therefore, would continue to bear more than its share of that  cost—are unlikely to be addressed. Mitigate effects of rising fire costs on other agency programs. The  sharply rising costs of managing wildland fires have led the Forest Service  and the Interior agencies to transfer funds from other programs to help  pay for fire suppression, disrupting or delaying activities in these other  programs. Better methods of estimating the suppression funds the  agencies request, as we recommended in 2004, could reduce the  likelihood that the agencies would need to transfer funds from other  accounts, yet the agencies continue to use an estimation method with  known problems. Wildland Fire Management: Update on Federal Agency Efforts to Develop  a Cohesive Strategy to Address Wildland Fire Threats.
Why GAO Did This Study

The nation's wildland fire problems have worsened dramatically over the past decade, with more than a doubling of both the average annual acreage burned and federal appropriations for wildland fire management. The deteriorating fire situation has led the agencies responsible for managing wildland fires on federal lands--the Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service in the Department of the Interior--to reassess how they respond to wildland fire and to take steps to improve their fire management programs. This testimony discusses (1) progress the agencies have made in managing wildland fire and (2) key actions GAO believes are still necessary to improve their wildland fire management. This testimony is based on issued GAO reports and reviews of agency documents and interviews with agency officials on actions the agencies have taken in response to previous GAO findings and recommendations.

What GAO Found

The Forest Service and Interior agencies have improved their understanding of wildland fire's ecological role on the landscape and have taken important steps toward enhancing their ability to cost-effectively protect communities and resources by seeking to (1) make communities and resources less susceptible to being damaged by wildland fire and (2) respond to fire so as to protect communities and important resources at risk while also considering both the cost and long-term effects of that response. To help them do so, the agencies have reduced potentially flammable vegetation in an effort to keep wildland fires from spreading into the wildland-urban interface and to help protect important resources by lessening a fire's intensity; sponsored efforts to educate homeowners about steps they can take to protect their homes from wildland fire; and provided grants to help homeowners carry out these steps. The agencies have also made improvements that lay important groundwork for enhancing their response to wildland fire, including adopting new guidance on how managers in the field are to select firefighting strategies, improving the analytical tools that assist managers in selecting a strategy, and improving how the agencies acquire and use expensive firefighting assets. Despite the agencies' efforts, much work remains. GAO has previously recommended several key actions that, if completed, would substantially improve the agencies' management of wildland fire. Specifically, the agencies should: (1) Develop a cohesive strategy laying out various potential approaches for addressing the growing wildland fire threat, including estimating costs associated with each approach and the trade-offs involved. Such information would help the agencies and Congress make fundamental decisions about an effective and affordable approach to responding to fires. (2) Establish a cost-containment strategy that clarifies the importance of containing costs relative to other, often-competing objectives. Without such clarification, GAO believes managers in the field lack a clear understanding of the relative importance that the agencies' leadership places on containing costs and are therefore likely to continue to select firefighting strategies without duly considering the costs of suppression. (3) Clarify financial responsibilities for fires that cross federal, state, and local jurisdictions. Unless the financial responsibilities for multijurisdictional fires are clarified, concerns that the existing framework insulates nonfederal entities from the cost of protecting the wildland-urban interface from fire--and that the federal government would thus continue to bear more than its share of the cost--are unlikely to be addressed. (4) Take action to mitigate the effects of rising fire costs on other agency programs. The sharply rising costs of managing wildland fires have led the agencies to transfer funds from other programs to help pay for fire suppression, disrupting or delaying activities in these other programs. Better methods of predicting needed suppression funding could reduce the need to transfer funds from other programs.