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Fire today ManagementVolume 73 • No. 2 • 2013 FFUELSUELS MMANAGEMENTANAGEMENT United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Fire Management Today is published by the Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC. The Secretary of Agriculture has determined that the publication of this periodical is necessary in the transaction of the public business required by law of this Department. Fire Management Today is for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, at: Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: 202-512-1800 Fax: 202-512-2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0001 Fire Management Today is available on the World Wide Web at <http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/fmt/index.html>. Tom Vilsack, Secretary Melissa Frey U.S. Department of Agriculture General Manager Thomas L. Tidwell, Chief Mary A. Carr, EMC Publishing Arts Forest Service Editor Tom Harbour, Director Fire and Aviation Management The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audio tape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimi nation, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. December 2013 Trade Names (FMT) The use of trade, firm, or corporation names in this publication is for the information and convenience of the reader. Such use does not constitute an official endorsement of any product or service by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Individual authors are responsible for the technical accuracy of the material presented in Fire Management Today. Fire Management Today 2 Fire Management today Volume 73 • No. 2 • 2013 On the Cover: CONTENTS Anchor Point: Good Ideas Matter ................... 4 Tom Harbour Quantifying the Potential Impacts of Fuel Treatments on Wildfire Suppression Costs ...................... 5 Matthew P. Thompson, Nicole M. Vaillant, Jessica R. Haas, Krista M.Gebert, and Keith D. Stockmann Modeled Forest Inventory Data Suggest Climate Benefits From Fuels Management ........................... 11 Jeremy S. Fried, Theresa B. Jain, and Jonathan Sandquist Job Corp crewmembers Aaron Fire Season 2012: The Impact of Fuel Treatments on Wildfire Slack and Paul Almona putting in handline on the 1,625-acre Outcomes ................................. 15 Chestnut Ridge prescribed burn on Frankie Romero and James Menakis the Greenbrier Ranger District of the Monongahela National Forest during the spring of 2009. A Towering FEPP Program Success: Trailer Truck Provides Fire Photo by Peter Fischer Training Academy Environment for Northern Minnesota’s Cloquet Area Fire District ...................... 25 Kevin Schroeder Training Future Fire Managers: Innovative Partnership Expands Job Corps Impact ........................... 27 Michaela Hall The USDA Forest Service’s Fire and Aviation Management Staff has adopted a logo reflecting three central principles of wildland Proposed Process for Analyzing Courses for Conversion From fire management: Instructor-Led to Online or Blended Learning ......... 29 • Innovation: We will respect and value thinking minds, voices, and thoughts of Mark L. Cantrell those that challenge the status quo while focusing on the greater good. • Execution: We will do what we say we will do. Achieving program objectives, improving diversity, and accomplishing SHORT FEATURES targets are essential to our credibility. • Discipline: What we do, we will do well. Success Stories Wanted ........................ 14 Fiscal, managerial, and operational discipline are at the core of our ability to Contributors Wanted ........................... 24 fulfill our mission. Guidelines for Contributors ...................... 35 Firefighter and public safety is our first priority. Volume 73 • No. 2 • 2013 3 Anchor by Tom Harbour Director, Fire and Aviation Management Point Forest Service GOOD IDEAS MAtter any good ideas have been defined, refined, and imple If we fail to share our ideas with others, we stand Mmented over more than a to lose an opportunity to make a difference—to century of wildland fire manage ment. Ideas such as the advent solve some of those issues identified in the QFR of the Pulaski, the fire shelter, and the cohesive strategy. personal protective equipment, national training standards, and the implementation of interagency Another good idea was revealed As American Humorist Arnold H. coordination are just a few that when interagency coordination and Glasow noted, “Success isn’t a come immediately to mind. collaboration reached unprecedent result of spontaneous combustion. ed levels through the three phases You must set yourself on fire.” The first Quadrennial Fire and of the National Cohesive Wildland What did he mean? Maybe, that Fuels Review (QFR) in 2004 and Fire Management Strategy. The ideas matter; without those who the subsequent QFR in 2009 rep process that started as an effort dared to share ideas in the past, we resent another beneficial idea: a to develop a cohesive strategy to would be nowhere today. strategic assessment process to address the wildland fire problems evaluate current mission strategies across America has encouraged If we fail to share our ideas with and capabilities against best esti and fostered a greater level of col others, we stand to lose an opportu mates of the future environment laboration across landscapes to nity to make a difference—to solve for fire management. A QFR cre address the three major factors of some of those issues identified in ates an integrated strategic vision the strategy—restore and maintain the QFR and the cohesive strategy. document for fire management resilient landscapes, create fire- So, I would challenge you: what are and provides a solid foundation for adapted communities, and respond the good ideas of the future? With policy discussion within the five to wildfire. We have always worked changing demographics, increas Federal natural resource manage in tandem with our partners when ing impacts on the wildland-urban ment agencies (Forest Service, a wildfire happens, but the cohesive interface, declining health of our Bureau of Land Management, strategy has encouraged us to look forests and rangelands, and the National Park Service, Bureau of across landscapes and jurisdictions subsequent increasing severity of Indian Affairs, and U.S. Fish and to work together not only when the wildfires, we need your help. You Wildlife Service)—and more impor fire bell rings but also to prepare are our experts in the field. tantly, among the Federal agencies for and learn to live with fire as a and their State, local, tribal, and natural occurrence. Are we there Considering those three major other partners. It sets the stage for yet? No, but we have made great factors of the cohesive strategy, I a “strategic conversation” within strides. would ask that you be part of the the wildland fire community about solution and share your ideas with the future direction and changes in your supervisor—share them with wildland fire management. me. Together, we can do more! Fire Management Today 4 QUANTIFYING THE POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF FUEL TREATMENTS ON WILDFIRE SUPPRESSION COSTS Matthew P. Thompson, Nicole M .Vaillant, Jessica R. Haas, Krista M. Gebert, and Keith D. Stockmann and post-fire analyses suggest that This article is a condensed and slightly edited version of a previously fuel treatments can significantly published article appearing in the Journal of Forestry (Thompson et affect fire spread and final fire size al. 2013). Readers wishing for more detail on study motivation, rel (Cochrane et al. 2012, Collins et evant literature, data sources, modeling methods, and the full presen al. 2011, Hudak et al. 2011, Ager tation of results are encouraged to refer to the article in its entirety, et al. 2010, Finney 2007). Lastly, which is available from the author or through the journal. fuel treatments can also lead to reductions in final fire size by pro viding opportunities for enhanced Introduction pression costs. Our approach pairs suppression (Hudak et al. 2011, wildfire simulation outputs with a Syphard et al. 2011, Graham et al. odeling the impacts and regression cost model and quanti 2009, Moghaddas and Craggs 2007). effects of hazardous fuel fies the influence of fuel treatments reduction treatments is a M on distributions of wildfire sizes pressing issue within the wild Methods and suppression costs. Estimates fire management community. of suppression cost reductions can Framework Prospective evaluation of fuel treat ultimately be compared to treat The evaluation of potential cost ments allows for comparison of ment costs within a cost-benefit impacts involves first modeling alternative treatment strategies in framework. how treatments will impact fire terms of socioeconomic and ecolog behavior, and, in turn, model ical impacts and facilitates analysis