Agencies were unable to assess the extent to  which they were reducing wildland fire risks or to establish meaningful  fuel reduction performance measures, as well as to determine the cost- effectiveness of these efforts, because they lacked both monitoring data  and sufficient data on the location of lands at high risk of catastrophic  fires to know the effects of their actions. Progress in National Strategy: Priorities Have Been Clarified and Funding Has Been Increased for Identified Needs

Over the last 5 years, the federal government has been formulating a  national strategy known as the National Fire Plan, composed of several  strategic documents that set forth a priority to reduce wildland fire risks to  communities. Agencies Face Several Challenges to Completing a Long- Needed Cohesive Strategy for Reducing Fuels and Responding to Wildland Fire Problems

While the federal government has made important progress over the past 5  years in addressing wildland fire, a number of challenges still must be met  to complete development of a cohesive strategy that explicitly identifies  available long-term options and funding needed to reduce fuels on the  nation’s forests and rangelands. While the agencies are now in a better  position to do so, they must build on the progress made to date by  completing data and modeling efforts underway, updating their fire  management plans with the results of these data efforts and ongoing  research, and following through on recent cost-effectiveness and  affordability initiatives. Because there is an increasingly urgent need for a cohesive federal  strategy that identifies long-term options and related funding needs for  reducing fuels, we have recommended that the Secretaries of Agriculture  and the Interior provide the Congress, in time for its consideration of the  agencies’ fiscal year 2006 wildland fire management budgets, with a joint  tactical plan outlining the critical steps the agencies will take, together  with related time frames, to complete such a cohesive strategy. WILDLAND FIRE: Protecting Structures and Improving Communications

Next, I would like to summarize the findings of our second report, being  released today, that discusses ways to help protect homes and improve  communications during wildland fires. As people  continue to move to areas in or near fire-prone wildlands, the number of  homes at risk from wildland fire is likely to grow. Once a wildland fire starts, many different agencies may assist in the  efforts to manage or suppress it, including the Forest Service (within the  Department of Agriculture); land management agencies in the Department  of the Interior; state forestry agencies; local fire departments; private  contract firefighting crews; and, in some cases, the military. My testimony today summarizes key findings from our report released  today and addresses: (1) measures that can help protect structures from  wildland fires, (2) factors affecting the use of these protective measures,  and (3) the role that technology plays in improving firefighting agencies’  ability to communicate during wildland fires. Recognizing that during severe wildland fires, suppression efforts alone  cannot protect all homes threatened by wildland fire, firefighting and  community officials are increasing their emphasis on preventive  approaches that help reduce the chance that wildland fires will ignite  homes and other structures. Radio frequencies are grouped into bands. Defensible Space and Fire-Resistant Roofs and Vents Are Key to Protecting Structures; Other Technologies Can Also Help

Managing vegetation and reducing or eliminating flammable objects— often called defensible space—within 30 to 100 feet of a structure is a key  protective measure. Competing concerns. Lack of awareness of homeowners’ responsibility. Third, some state and local governments have adopted laws that require  maintaining defensible space around structures or the use of fire-resistant  building materials. Effective Adoption of Technologies to Achieve Communications Interoperability Requires Better Planning and Coordination

Technologies are available or under development to help improve  communications interoperability so that personnel from different public  safety agencies responding to an emergency, such as a wildland fire, can  communicate effectively with one another. These radios are beginning to be  adopted by a variety of federal, state, and local agencies. In recent years, the federal government, as well as several states and local  jurisdictions, have focused increased attention on improving planning and  coordination to achieve communications interoperability.
Why GAO Did This Study

Wildland fires are increasingly threatening communities and ecosystems. In recent years, they have become more intense due to excess vegetation that has accumulated, partly as a result of past suppression efforts. The cost to suppress these fires is increasing and, as more people move into fire-prone areas near wildlands, the number of homes at risk is growing. During these wildland fires, effective communications among the public safety agencies responding from various areas is critical, but can be hampered by incompatible radio equipment. This testimony discusses (1) progress made and future challenges to managing wildland fire, (2) measures to help protect structures, and (3) the role of technology in improving responder communications during fires. It is based on two GAO reports: Wildland Fire Management: Important Progress Has Been Made, but Challenges Remain to Completing a Cohesive Strategy ( GAO-05-147 , Jan. 14, 2005) and Technology Assessment: Protecting Structures and Improving Communications during Wildland Fires ( GAO-05-380 , Apr. 26, 2005).

What GAO Found

Over the last 5 years, the Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture and land management agencies in the Department of the Interior, working with the Congress, have made important progress in responding to wildland fires. Most notably, the agencies have adopted various national strategy documents addressing the need to reduce wildland fire risks, established a priority to protect communities in the wildland-urban interface, and increased efforts and amounts of funding committed to addressing wildland fire problems. However, despite producing numerous planning and strategy documents, the agencies have yet to develop a cohesive strategy that identifies the long-term options and related funding needed to reduce excess vegetation that fuels fires in national forests and rangelands. Reducing these fuels lowers risks to communities and ecosystems and helps contain suppression costs. As GAO noted in 1999, such a strategy would help the agencies and the Congress to determine the most effective and affordable long-term approach for addressing wildland fire problems. Completing this strategy will require finishing several efforts now under way to improve a key wildland fire data and modeling system, local fire management planning, and a new system designed to identify the most cost-effective means for allocating fire management budget resources, each of which has its own challenges. Without completing these tasks, the agencies will have difficulty determining the extent and location of wildland fire threats, targeting and coordinating their efforts and resources, and resolving wildland fire problems in the most timely and cost-effective manner over the long term. The two most effective measures for protecting structures from wildland fires are (1) creating and maintaining a buffer around a structure by eliminating or reducing trees, shrubs, and other flammable objects within an area from 30 to 100 feet around the structure and (2) using fire-resistant roofs and vents. Other technologies--such as fire-resistant building materials, chemical agents, and geographic information system mapping tools--can help in protecting structures and communities, but they play a secondary role. Many homeowners, however, are not using the protective measures because of the time or expense involved, competing values or concerns, misperceptions about wildland fires, or lack of awareness of their shared responsibility for home protection. Federal, state, and local governments and others are attempting to address this problem through a variety of educational, financial assistance, and regulatory efforts. Technologies exist and others are being developed to address communications problems among emergency responders using different radio frequencies or equipment. However, technology alone cannot solve this problem. Effective adoption of these technologies requires planning and coordination among federal, state, and local agencies involved. The Department of Homeland Security, as well as several states and local jurisdictions, are pursuing initiatives to improve communications.