NWCG Smoke Management Guide for Prescribed Fire, PMS 420-3
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A publication of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group NWCG Smoke Management Guide for Prescribed Fire PMS 420-3 November 2020 NFES 001279 NWCG Smoke Management Guide for Prescribed Fire November 2020 PMS 420-3 NFES 001279 The NWCG Smoke Management Guide for Prescribed Fire contains information on prescribed fire smoke management techniques, air quality regulations, smoke monitoring, modeling, communication, public perception of prescribed fire and smoke, climate change, practical meteorological approaches, and smoke tools. The primary focus of this document is to serve as the textbook in support of NWCG’s RX- 410, Smoke Management Techniques course which is required for the position of Prescribed Fire Burn Boss Type 2 (RXB2). The Guide is useful to all who use prescribed fire, from private land owners to federal land managers, with practical tools, and underlying science. Many chapters are helpful for addressing air quality impacts from wildfires. It is intended to assist those who are following the guidance of the NWCG’s Interagency Prescribed Fire Planning and Implementation Procedures Guide, PMS 484, https://www.nwcg.gov/publications/484, in planning for, and addressing, smoke when conducting prescribed fires. For a glossary of relevant terminology, consult the NWCG Glossary of Wildland Fire Terminology, PMS 205, https://www.nwcg.gov/glossary/a-z. For smoke management and air quality terms not commonly used by NWCG, consult the Smokepedia at https://www.frames.gov/smokepedia. The National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) provides national leadership to enable interoperable wildland fire operations among federal, state, tribal, territorial, and local partners. NWCG operations standards are interagency by design; they are developed with the intent of universal adoption by the member agencies. However, the decision to adopt and utilize them is made independently by the individual member agencies and communicated through their respective directives systems. Editors/Compilers Janice Peterson Air Resource Specialist USDA Forest Service Peter Lahm Air Resource Specialist USDA Forest Service Mark Fitch Smoke Management Specialist National Park Service Michael George Air Resources Specialist National Park Service Dennis Haddow Consultant US Fish and Wildlife Service (ret.) Mark Melvin Conservation Management/Education Technician Joseph W Jones Ecological Research Center Josh Hyde Fire Research Scientist Forest Rangeland and Fire Sciences, College of Natural Resources University of Idaho Ellen Eberhardt Technical Information Specialist USDA Forest Service NWCG Smoke Management Guide for Prescribed Fire i Authors Jarod Blades Sarah McCaffrey University of Wisconsin USDA Forest Service Martha Sue Carraway Anthony Matthews U.S. Environmental Protection Agency USDA Forest Service, ret. Wayne E. Cascio Chuck Maxwell U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Interagency Southwest Coordination Center Scott A. Copeland Mark Melvin USDA Forest Service Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center Gary Curcio Susan O’Neill IPA-Fire Environment Specialists USDA Forest Service Scott Damon Roger D. Ottmar Centers for Disease Control and Prevention USDA Forest Service Mary Ann Davies Janice Peterson USDA Forest Service USDA Forest Service Sue A. Ferguson Brian Potter USDA Forest Service USDA Forest Service Paul Garbe Timothy E. Reinhardt Centers for Disease Control and Prevention AMEC Environment and Infrastructure Inc. Michael George Miriam Rorig National Park Service USDA Forest Service Rick Gillam Robert Solomon U.S. Environmental Protection Agency University of Washington Scott Goodrick Tara Strand USDA Forest Service Scion Research Dennis Haddow Susan Lyon Stone U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, ret. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Troy Hall Thomas Zimmerman University of Oregon USDA Forest Service, ret. Colin Hardy USDA Forest Service Peter Lahm USDA Forest Service Sim Larkin USDA Forest Service NWCG Smoke Management Guide for Prescribed Fire ii Table of Contents Foreword .................................................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1–OVERVIEW ..................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 The Air Quality and Smoke Management Imperative ............................................................... 5 1.2 The Need for Prescribed Fire ...................................................................................................... 11 1.3 The Effects of the Social-Wildland Interface on Wildland Fire Management....................... 17 CHAPTER 2 – SMOKE IMPACTS ...................................................................................................... 31 2.1 Public Health and Exposure to Smoke ...................................................................................... 32 2.2 Fire Personnel Smoke Exposure and Safety .............................................................................. 44 2.3 Smoke and Transportation Safety .............................................................................................. 66 2.4 Visibility in Natural Areas .......................................................................................................... 82 CHAPTER 3–REGULATIONS ............................................................................................................ 92 3.1 Smoke Management Regulations ............................................................................................... 93 3.2 State Smoke Management Programs ....................................................................................... 105 CHAPTER 4–FUEL CONSUMPTION AND EMISSIONS REDUCTION.................................... 112 4.1 Fuel Consumption and Smoke Production .............................................................................. 113 4.2 Techniques to Reduce Emissions from Prescribed Fire ......................................................... 146 CHAPTER 5 – TECHNIQUES AND TOOLS FOR SMOKE MANAGEMENT .......................... 165 5.1 Smoke Management Meteorology ............................................................................................ 166 5.2 Practical Tools: Meteorology and Simple Models for Predicting Smoke Movement and Potential Smoke Effects ............................................................................................................. 192 5.3. Smoke Prediction Models .......................................................................................................... 223 5.4. Smoke Monitoring ..................................................................................................................... 237 CHAPTER 6 – COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS ........................................ 253 6.1. Smoke Management Communication ...................................................................................... 254 6.2. Public Perceptions of Smoke from Wildland Fire .................................................................. 264 CHAPTER 7 – WILDLAND FIRE AND CLIMATE CHANGE ..................................................... 272 CHAPTER 8 – PREPARING FOR PRESCRIBED FIRE ............................................................... 282 8.1. Planning for Fire Management................................................................................................. 283 8.2 The Well Prepared Fire Manager ............................................................................................ 292 NWCG Smoke Management Guide for Prescribed Fire iii Foreword Colin Hardy and Janice Peterson The challenge of minimizing the impacts of smoke on the public while expanding the role of fire in land management has never been greater, as air quality standards tighten and the wildland urban interface expands with people looking to live in natural environments with clean air. Recent dramatic increases in the average number of acres burned by wildfire per year have led to increased awareness that wildfire smoke impacts are a reality that must be addressed. Prescribed fire, a vital tool to improve ecosystem health and lessen the potential impacts of wildfire, is gaining support even among unlikely allies such as clean air agencies. But this tentative support will only continue and expand if fire practitioners commit to continuously learning and applying the best science and methods for protecting air quality as well as emphasizing public communications and outreach to address concerns. In the near future, changes in climate leading to shifting ecosystems and fire regimes will provide new challenges. This edition of the Smoke Management Guide for Prescribed fire builds on previous versions with updated knowledge of fire and air quality science, policy, and tools. New concepts presented for the first time include chapters on smoke management communications, public perceptions of smoke from wildland fire, wildland fire and climate change, and the practical use of meteorological tools and indices for smoke management. This guidebook will serve to educate current and future generations of fire practitioners and smoke managers by building upon the good work of earlier efforts. The challenge—and the potential—for wildland fire management in the 21st century is perhaps best described by the vision statement adopted by the Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC): “To safely and effectively extinguish fire, when needed; use fire where allowable; manage our natural