Fire Management today Volume 60 • No. 1 • Winter 2000 1936 1962 1971 1978 SIX DECADES OF SERVICE 1986 Fire Management today Volume 60 • No. 1 • Winter 2000 1936 1971 1962 1978 1986 1993 1993 1995 1996 TODAY United States Department of Agriculture 1995 Forest Service 1996 TODAY United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Editor’s note: On the eve of the 21st century, Fire Management Notes has changed its name to Fire Management Today, partly in response to many comments by readers over the years. In 1936, when the journal was founded, its simple format and short, newsy articles suited its original name—Fire Control Notes. The journal changed its name to Fire Management in 1973 and then to Fire Management Notes in 1976 (see the story by Hutch Brown beginning on page 8). Since the 1960’s, the journal has steadily grown in size and improved in design (see the story by Delvin Bunton beginning on page 27). Today, the journal’s polished format and relatively extensive articles have rendered Notes in the name obsolete. The journal remains committed to many of its original goals, outlined in the very first issue of Fire Control Notes by Roy Headley, former head of the USDA Forest Service’s Division of Fire Control (see his article re­ printed on page 6). One prominent goal is to help wildland fire profession­ als stay abreast of the latest developments in wildland fire management. That’s why the journal’s new name is Fire Management Today. Thanks go to Steve Barrett, a contributor to the journal and a consulting fire ecolo­ gist in Kalispell, MT, for suggesting the new name. 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. Subscriptions ($13.00 per year domestic, $16.25 per year foreign) may be obtained from New Orders, Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954. A subscription order form is available on the back cover. Fire Management Today is available on the World Wide Web at <http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/planning/firenote.htm>. Dan Glickman, Secretary April J. Baily U.S. Department of Agriculture General Manager Mike Dombeck, Chief Robert H. “Hutch” Brown, Ph.D. Forest Service Editor Jose Cruz, Director Delvin R. Bunton Fire and Aviation Management Issue Coordinator The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice or TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Disclaimer: 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 today Management Volume 60 • No. 1 • Winter 2000 On the Cover: CONTENTS Fire Management Today: A Continuing Legacy of Service ................................. 4 Mike Dombeck Fire Control Notes Offers Its Services ....................... 6 Roy Headley How Did Fire Control Notes Become Fire Management Today? ......................................... 8 Founded in 1936, Fire Manage­ Hutch Brown ment Today has served the wildland fire community for more Guide Available for Implementing than 60 years as a clearinghouse Fire Management Policy ......................................... 15 for new techniques, technologies, David L. Bunnell and ideas. Until 1961, the journal kept the same simple design under Fire on the Really Big Screen: its original name, Fire Control A Documentary With a Difference ........................... 17 Notes. In 1962, Fire Control Notes Hutch Brown began to modernize its design. Changes in wildland fire manage­ Covers for Fire Management Today— ment policy in the 1970’s led the journal to adopt a new name. A Not Just Pretty Pictures........................................ 19 new design and larger format in Delvin R. Bunton the 1980’s improved readability. After Smokey Bear’s 50th-anniver­ Using Indexes for Fire Management Today ............... 24 sary issue, Fire Management Hutch Brown Today assumed its current polished, full-color appearance. Creating an Index That Mirrors Our Past ................. 27 Delvin R. Bunton The FIRE 21 symbol (shown below and on the Subject Index—Volumes 31–59 ............................... 32 cover) stands for the safe and effective use of wildland fire, now and in the 21st century. Its Delvin R. Bunton shape represents the fire triangle (oxygen, heat, and fuel). The three outer red triangles represent the basic functions of wildland fire organizations (planning, operations, and aviation management), and the three critical SHORT FEATURES aspects of wildland fire management (preven­ tion, suppression, and prescription). The black interior represents land affected by fire; the Websites on Fire..................................................... 5 emerging green points symbolize the growth, restoration, and sustainability associated with fire-adapted ecosystems. The flame represents Fire Use Management Teams Monitor fire itself as an ever-present force in nature. For more information on FIRE 21 and the science, Wildland Fires ...................................................... 16 research, and innovative thinking behind it, Michael G. Apicello contact Mike Apicello, National Interagency Fire Center, 208-387-5460. Guidelines for Contributors..................................... 95 Firefighter and public safety is our first priority. FIRE MANAGEMENT TODAY: A CONTINUING LEGACY OF SERVICE Mike Dombeck or more than 60 years, Fire consequences for lives, property, Management Today has pro­ and ecosystem health. Fvided a forum open to anyone with anything useful or interesting Today, we do not have a fire to share with other wildland fire problem: We have a fuels problem. professionals. In the process, the A critical issue facing our water­ journal has not only facilitated sheds, especially in the Interior information exchange, but also West, is the risk of unnaturally helped build a common history severe wildland fire. By using all and culture in the wildland fire the tools available to us—thinning, community. On the eve of the 21st prescribed fire, invasive-weed century, it’s time to acknowledge— control, and well-managed graz­ and reconfirm—the value of that ing—we can reduce hazardous fuel service. levels and live again within the ecological limits of the land. And if In 1936, when Fire Management we take care of the land, it will take Today was founded as Fire Control care of us. Notes, the fire organization in the United States was just 30 years old. But we don’t yet have all the Mike Dombeck, Chief of the USDA Forest answers, and no single agency can Shaped by the experience of the Service. Photo: Karl Perry, USDA Forest Great 1910 Burn, the USDA Forest Service, Washington Office, Washington, do it alone. We need to continue Service’s Division of Fire Control DC, 1999. building partnerships with univer­ was dedicated to systematic, uni­ sities, industry and environmental­ ists, State and Federal colleagues, versal wildland fire suppression. As Unfortunately, we got so good at local communities, Indian tribes, a clearinghouse for new ideas and suppressing wildland fires that we and other stakeholders in our technologies, Fire Control Notes overlooked the impact our efforts Nation’s natural resources. In­ played a key role in discussions on were having on the resources we creasingly, we need to look across every aspect of wildland fire were trying to protect. Especially our borders for partners in protect­ management, from policy through in the West, decades of fire sup­ ing natural resources worldwide. techniques to organization and pression left forest stands highly Science and professionalism must equipment. Glancing through old susceptible to insect and disease lead the debates on use, manage­ issues, you can trace the develop­ infestation. Where low-intensity ment, and conservation of our ment of the one-lick method, the fires once burned at regular natural resources in ways that will 40-man crew, helicopter use, intervals, people built homes and restore healthy watersheds— incident management, fire fuels accumulated, an increasingly watersheds that retain historic behavior research, interagency volatile combination. Today, 40 streamflows and are resilient in the collaboration, the Cooperative million acres of our forestland are face of natural events such as Forest Fire Prevention Campaign, exposed to an abnormally high risk floods, drought, and fire. and many other aspects of wildland of fire, disease, and insect out­ fire management that we take for breaks. Nationwide, despite a That’s where Fire Management