Prescribed Fire Training Center PrescribedTraining Fire . E XCELLENCE I N P RESCRIBED F I R E . 2009 2009 Annual Report 3250Capital SouthwestCircle Tallahassee, FL 32310FL Tallahassee, www.fws.gov/fire/pftc www.fws.gov/fire/pftc 850/523-8640(Fax) 850/523-8630 Mission Statement To Maintain a National Interagency Center of Excellence for Prescribed Fire, with an Emphasis on Actual Field Ex- perience, in Order to Increase Skills and Knowledge and to Build Confidence in the Application of Prescribed Fire. FY2009 ANNUAL REPORT Page 1 Executive Summary The Prescribed Fire Training Center marked another successful year in 2009 with the continuation of the Center’s distinguished experiential learning sessions as well as an Administrators Workshop and NWCG courses. The Center continues to be the BEST place in the country for fire practitioners to hone their practical skills while conducting landscape and wildland urban interface burns under the guidance of some of the most experienced prescribed burners anywhere. The Center accommodated 105 participants from five federal agencies, local governments, non-governmental or- ganizations and foreign countries during the sessions and workshops. Participants came from 27 states and 4 foreign countries. For the second year in a row, TNC sponsored, and PFTC trained a Spanish-language module with participants from Mexico and the Dominican Republic. The Center worked with 9 different cooperating agencies/organizations on 49 different units. This year saw the addition of a new cooperator, the Georgia Forestry Commission. This new relationship pro- duced immediate training opportunities for participants and great advantages for the host in the addi- tional treated acres with experienced crews. During the sessions and workshop, the PFTC, with their cooperative host units, applied prescribed fire to: ♦ 78,192 acres (80% federal), ♦ 38,631 acres of wildland-urban interface (49% of the total treated acreage, 80% federal). ♦ The most common task books addressed during the sessions included RXB2, RXB3, FIRB, ENGB, and FEMO, with a total of 419 assignments. ♦ There were 1,982 tasks accomplished with 33 individuals recommended for certification back to their home units. All participants received instruction in fire behavior, firing techniques and high reliability organizing. The Center entered into a new cooperative agreement with the University of Florida and offered 3 up- per division credits through the College of Forest Resources and Conservation. Fourteen (14) individuals took advantage of this opportunity and completed the work required to receive these credits. Safety and the well being of the Field Coordinators and participants is the Center’s number one priority. Unfortunately, incidents do happen. On Thursday, March 19, 2009, a Federal employee at- tending the March session was the firing boss (FIRB) on a prescribed burn with a cooperator and was injured while firing a QUICKFIRE Pistol. This employee was trained on the proper use and care of the QUICKFIRE Pistol, and this was the employee’s fifth assignment as FIRB while at PFTC. During the period of January through March, participants from the 21-day sessions and Agency Admin- istrators Workshop drove approximately 82,000 miles. Burn assignments took the participants to Flor- ida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina. A Participants’ Perspective... “The PFTC session is probably one of the best prescribed fire training opportunities in the world. For me it was the best training program I have ever done. Attending PFTC program will help me a lot on my career.” Juan Caamano, Junta de Andalucia – INFOCA, Granada, Spain Page 2 FY2009 ANNUAL REPORT Cover Parker Schuerman, TNC - Maine, igniting in longleaf pine/wiregrass sandhill community dur- ing February session. Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Table of Contents 2 Note from the Director 3 Narrative Summary 4 Burn Accomplishments ♦ Federal Agencies 10 ♦ Non-Federal Agencies 11 FY2009 Program of Work ♦ 21-Day Practitioner Sessions 12 ♦ Acres Treated 12 ♦ Federal/Non-Federal Acres 12 ♦ Participants by Agency 13 ♦ Task Book Accomplishments 13 ♦ Percent of Operating Budget 14 Summary of Participants FY2009 Ten Succinct Messages 15 1998 thru 2009 Cumulative Program of Work GACC Region Participants Percent ♦ Accomplishments 16 ♦ Participants by Agency 16 Western GACCs 986 77% ♦ Chart - Participants by Agency 17 Eastern 148 12% ♦ Chart - Participants by Age 17 Southern 107 8% ♦ Chart - Number of RXB2t/RXB3t Participants 18 International 34 3% ♦ Chart - Number of FIRBt/RXIt and ENGBt Participants 18 Total 1,275 100% PFTC Organization 19 PFTC Steering Committee Members 20 Participants’ Perspectives 21 Additional Information 22 FY2009 ANNUAL REPORT Page 3 Note from the Director Prescribed Fire Training Center (PFTC) and the New Federal Wildland Fire Policy . In the wake of the ever changing fire management policy within the Federal agencies, a new set of fire standards has emerged. As federal fire managers, we now have a new Federal Wildland Fire Policy (2/13/09). In order for ease and clarification with our non-federal partners, the new Federal Wildland Fire policy will categorize Wildland Fire as Prescribed Fire or Wildfire The federal work force, in par- ticular, must face the fact that they will be losing a tremendous amount of fireline expertise due to mandatory retirement. Each home unit has the opportunity to step up and work on this fireline expertise gap at the local level. It is evident, when talking to participants that come through the Center each year, that the gap seems to get larger before it gets smaller. This is due to the fact that on each unit, there are employees with open task books, often multiple employees with the same open task book, with not enough burns or burn days, and assignments to offer each employee the opportunity to accomplish tasks and eventu- ally complete a task book. This resulting “bottle neck” contributes greatly to the increased length of time for employees to build experience and benefit the home unit and agency. PFTC is the only hands-on training center opportunity in the country. It is structured to allow the par- ticipant to build prescribed fire confidence in the planning and execution of a burn. The participant is provided an accelerated, broad-base field-experience training in an environment that allows for wide prescription windows as well as a diversity of burn objectives. PFTC has the capability to reduce the “bottle neck” on the home units, allowing task books to be worked on when the home unit is not able to provide the necessary opportunities to complete task books. How can prescribed burn skills become beneficial in wildfire applications? The use of pre- scribed fire operations permits the employee to plan a burn (tools/equipment/personnel/burn tech- niques/weather/fuel types/last burned); execute the burn for objectives within the unit/station Fire Man- agement Plan (FMP) or Land Management Plan (LMP); become pro-active and less re-active; conduct landscape scale burns; and most importantly - perform the operation safely and within time frames set forth by the local unit. We encourage you to call a member of the staff here at PFTC if you have any questions. The staff and cooperators you will be burning with are extremely eager to assist you into becoming an active fire practitioner. The website has links to session accomplishments, videos, statistics, photos, session announcements, workshops and much more. We hope to hear from you in the near future. Jim Durrwachter, Director Page 4 FY2009 ANNUAL REPORT Narrative Summary FY 2009 started with much activity and generated an energy that would carry over into the new year. Travel caps and reduced budgets are affecting all agencies this year and the result to the PFTC was a large number of last minute drops and reduced enrollment. Consequently we had to focus energy on shuffling individuals around to fill out crews and ultimately because of too many last minute drops the April session was cancelled. In contrast however, this was the first year in the Center’s history to send seven modules to the field in January and February, and five modules in March. After feed-back from Field Coordinators and the end of sessions staff AAR, the Center will send six modules to the field in 2010 for the months of January, February, and March. PFTC is glad to have Miranda Stuart, NPS, come on board as the new Fire Operations Specialist in January. She was indoctrinated into her new roles by complete immersion. No need to wade into the job but rather jump right in and go with the program. She was working with detailers Joe Ferguson in January and Hunter Wistrand in February to get her feet on the ground and see just how much time it takes to move crews and coordinate their field activities. In March she took the reins and survived the month without misplacing a crew. The job is demanding and she realized the importance of having a plan for the crews two to three days in advance as the key for success. The cooperators, were ex- tremely helpful and professional and the heart of the program. Safety of the fire fighter and the public, professional integrity and accountability, skill and leadership in action, and scientific understanding of fire as an ecological process are the core values of the PFTC which the Center is committed to main- taining. The Nature Conservancy again sponsored a Spanish-language module to attend the Center during the March session. The global economy had an impact on this module, as only four participants were able to attend: two from Mexico and two from the Dominican Republic. The two individuals from the Domini- can Republic were especially engaged due in large measure to the exclusion of prescribed fire use in the country. They left with a better understanding of the positive role prescribed fire can have and the necessity of working to change the current policy prohibiting the use of prescribed fire.