Wilderness Fire Management Planning Guide
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United States Department of Agriculture Wilderness Fire Forest Service Intermountain Management Forest and Range Experiment Station Ogden, Utah 84401 Planning Guide General Technical Report INT-1 7 1 August 1984 William C. Fischer THE AUTHOR WILLIAM C. FISCHER is a research forester for the Fire Effects and Use Research and Development Pro- gram at the Intermountain Station's Northern Forest Fire Laboratory, Missoula, Mont. He earned his B.S. and B.S.F. degrees at the University of Michigan in 1956. Prior to 1966, he was employed as a forester on the Boise National Forest in Idaho. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Wade Johnson, Bureau of Land Management, Grand Junction, Colo. Those listed below not only reviewed previous drafts Larry Keown, Gallatin National Forest, Bozeman, Mont. of this report, they also offered suggestions based on experience as resource managers dealing with fire and Larry Mahaffey, Siuslaw National Forest, wilderness management. Many of them authored and Corvallis, Oreg. implemented the first National Park and National Dick Mangan, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Forest wilderness fire management plans in North Baker, Oreg. America. Others are currently involved in developing John Maupin, Ochoco National Forest, Prineville, Oreg. new plans or administering existing ones. The content Francis Mohr, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, of this guide has been strongly influenced by the com- Baker, Oreg. ments, suggestions, and accomplishments of these Bob Mutch, Forest Service Regional Office, people. Missoula, Mont. Dave Aldrich, ldaho Panhandle National Forests, Hugh Pangman, Forest Service Regional Office, Coeur dlAlene, ldaho Ogden, Utah Marty Alexander, Northern Forest Research Centre, Ron Prichard, ldaho Panhandle National Forests, Edmonton, Alberta Coeur d'Alene, ldaho Dan Bailey, Lolo National Forest, Missoula, Mont. Jack Puckett, Forest Service Regional Office, Herman Ball, Forest Service Regional Office, Missoula, Mont. (retired) Lakewood, Colo. (retired) Ray Quintanar, Colville National Forest, Colville, Wash. Larry Bancroft, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National John Roberts, Malheur National Forest, Parks, Three Rivers, Calif. John Day, Oreg. Gene Benedict, Payette National Forest, McCall, ldaho Jim Russell, Okanogan National Forest, Ken Blonski, Lassen National Forest, Chester, Calif. Okanogan, Wash. Jack Carter, Forest Service Regional Off ice, Sonny Stiger, Helena National Forest, Helena, Mont. San Francisco, Calif. Fred Stillman, Bureau of Land Management, Dean Clark, Pinnacles National Monument, Denver, Colo. Paicines, Calif. Alan Taylor, Fish and Wildlife Service, Doug Gochnour, Mt. Hood National Forest, Fort Collins, Colo. Troutdale, Oreg. Dave Thomas, Clearwater National Forest, Wally Huff, ldaho Panhandle National Forests, Powell, ldaho Coeur d'Alene, ldaho Cliff White, Banff National Park, Banff, Alberta Gerald Jimeno, Clearwater National Forest, Larry White, ldaho Panhandle National Forests, Powell, ldaho Priest Lake, ldaho RESEARCH SUMMARY CONTENTS Current fire management policies of Federal land Page management agencies generally recognize fire as a Introduction ......................................................................1 natural process in many forest and range ecosystems, Evolution of Wilderness Fire Management Policy ..... 1 especially in the West. Consequently, fire is allowed or Wilderness Policy ..................................................... 1 encouraged to more nearly play its natural role in Fire Management ......................................................... 2 wildernesses, parks, refuges, and other areas managed Wilderness Fire Management ..................................... 2 in whole or in part to maintain primitive or presettlement Planning Concepts .......................................................... 4 conditions. The tasks associated with such policies are Planning Area ........................................................... 4 collectively known as wilderness fire management. Planning Context ....................................................... 5 In this report, wilderness fire management is de- The Plan......................................................................... 9 fined as the deliberate response to and use of fire Planning Elements .......................................................... 9 through the execution of technically sound plans Fire and Ecosystem Interactions .............................. 9 under specific prescriptions for the purpose of achiev- Spec-ial Resource and Use Considerations ............. 19 ing stated wilderness management objectives. Four Fire Management Objectives .....................................19 types of manager response to fire are identified: ag- Fire Management Units and Zones .......................... 20 gressive attack, delayed attack, modified attack, and Fire Management Prescriptions ................................ 22 allowing a fire to burn according to a predetermined Fire Management Plan ................................................25 prescription. Wilderness fire management planning is References .....................................................................28 the process of determining the appropriate response Appendix A: Park and Wilderness Fire Management to accidental fire and the use of manager-initiated fire Programs, 1972-81 ...................................................33 to accomplish wilderness management objectives. Appendix B: Selected References for Park and This report attempts to guide wilderness fire Wilderness Fire Management Planning ................... 37 management planning by suggesting a common ter- Philosophy Programs and Plans ............................... 37 minology, examining important planning concepts, and General Planning Aids and Information Sources ... 39 identifying, describing, and discussing essential plan- Fire History ...................................................................41 ning elements. Fire Occurrence, Fire Environment, and Fire Among the planning concepts examined are the ap- Behavior .........................................................................44 propriate planning area, the planning context, and the The Role of Fire and Fire Effects ............................. 47 format and content of the wilderness fire management Vegetation Inventory, Classification, and Analysis.. 53 plan. Special attention is given to the relationship of Ecosystem Classification ...........................................56 the wilderness fire management plan to the various other plans that exist in the planning hierarchy of most agencies. The relationship between National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements and wilderness fire management planning is illustrated using the Forest Service NEPA process as an example. Wilderness fire management planning is separated into six essential elements in this report: 1. Describing fire and ecosystem interactions 2. Describing special resource and use considerations 3. Defining fire management objectives 4. Delineating fire management units and zones 5. Developing fire management prescriptions 6. Devising a fire management plan Each of these planning elements is defined and discussed in terms of planning approach, information needs, and methods of presentation. Appropriate ex- amples for actual wilderness fire management plans are presented to illustrate methods. A summary of current wilderness fire management programs in the National Parks and National Forests is presented as an appendix. A second appendix pro- vides a bibliographic listing of selected references for park and wilderness fire management. References are grouped according to seven subject areas: philosophy, programs, and plans; planning aids and general infor- mation sources; fire history; fire occurrence, fire en- vironment, and fire behavior; the role of fire and fire effects; vegetation inventory, classification, and analysis; and ecosystem classification. Wilderness Fire Management Planning Guide William C. Fischer INTRODUCTION EVOLUTION OF WILDERNESS FIRE The purpose of this report is to guide and aid fire MANAGEMENT POLICY management planning for parks, wildernesses, and other Wilderness Policy wild, natural, or essentially undeveloped areas. A philosophy and general approach to wilderness fire The Wilderness ~ctlrequires that lands designated as management planning is emphasized. The intent is not components of the National Wilderness Preservation to propose a rigid format or to specify particular System "be administered . in such manner as will methods. Wilderness fire management plans, like the leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as areas they represent, will vary in content, complexity, wilderness, and so as to provide for the protection of and scope. Nevertheless, wilderness fire management these areas, the preservation of their wilderness plans should share a common purpose and uniform plan- character, and for the gathering and dissemination of in- ning procedure. formation regarding their use and enjoyment as The suggested approach to wilderness fire manage- wilderness." The act defines wilderness ". as an area ment planning is essentially a two-step process. The first where the earth and its community of life are untram- step involves developing specific fire management objec- meled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does tives based on agency policy, management direction, the not remain." An area of wilderness is further defined to physical and biological characteristics of the planning