United States Department of Agriculture WILDLAND FIRE RESEARCH Forest Service Vegetation Management and Protection Research UTURE EARCH ONFERENCE OTES Fire and Aviation Management F S C N Washington, D.C. Proceedings RMRS–P–1 PARK CITY, UTAH OCTOBER 6 – 8, 1997 Saveland, Jim; Thomas, Dave, tech coord. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS OUTCOMES 1998. Wildland Fire Research: Future Search Conference Notes; October 6-8, 1997; Park The USDA Forest Service funded the This conference provided an arena for City, Utah. Proceedings RMRS-P-1. Fort conference and publication of this report. No identifying common key issues that are Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, fee was charged to encourage conference shaping wildland fire research. Commonly Forest service, Rocky Mountain Research attendance. identified desired outcomes include: Station. 48 p. I thank Future Search Conference facilita- • Research, integrated across disciplines, tors, Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff, for and management form partnerships. their hard work, interest, and commitment to NOTE: wildland fire research. A special thanks to the • Communication between management To quickly publish these meeting notes, the conference organizers and documentation and research is effective and continu- drafts did not receive conventional Forest team; these people are listed in Appendix A. ous. Service editorial processing. Views expressed are those of meeting attendees and not neces- Jim Saveland, Conference Organizer • Responsive and proactive research sarily those of the Forest Service or other USDA Forest Service balances long-term scientific goals with organizations represented at the meeting. Trade Vegetation Management and rapidly changing management issues. Protection Research names are used for information purposes and • The success of research and develop- do not imply endorsement or preferential ment is measured by on-the-ground treatment by the Forest Service or other implementation. organizations represented at the meeting. • Fire research is responsive to national goals and receives long-term, stable You may order printed copies of this publication by sending your mailing information in label political support. form through one of the following media. Please include the publication title and number. Action plans were developed around the Telephone (970) 498-1719 following five key themes: E-mail rschneider/[email protected] 1. Create an interdepartmental competitive Forest Service Intranet Richard.Schneider/rmrs:fs grant program. FAX (970) 498-1660 2. Create a coordinated response to Mailing Address Publications Distribution managing fire regimes for ecosystem Rocky Mountain Research Station health. 3825 E. Mulberry Street 3. Create an environment for management Fort Collins, CO 80524-8597 and research collaboration. A web page for this Future Search Conference will be located on the Forest Service home 4. Integrate social science expertise. page at http://www.fs.fed.us/land/#fire. Users may make comments and receive feedback about the conference via a chatroom that will be available spring 1998. 5. Assess ecological risk. WILDLAND FIRE RESEARCH FUTURE SEARCH CONFERENCE NOTES PARK CITY, UTAH OCTOBER 6 – 8, 1997 SPONSORS: USDA Forest Service, Vegetation Management and Protection Research Washington, D.C. USDA Forest Service, Fire and Aviation Management Washington, D.C. PUBLISHER: Rocky Mountain Research Station Fort Collins, Colorado Proceedings RMRS-P-1 April 1998 PREFACE The USDA Forest Service sponsored CONFERENCE GOALS CONFERENCE STRUCTURE the Future of Wildland Fire Research Conference held in Park City, Utah, on This Future Search Conference was a Each participant was a member of two October 6-8, 1997. The participants, task-focused planning effort that relied on groups: a stakeholder group and a mixed scientists and decision and policy makers the knowledge, expertise, and experience group. The group type was appropriate to came from various government agencies of individuals interested in improving the exercise. The conference planning and non-government organizations. These wildland fire research. The goals of this committee identified eight stakeholder individuals gathered to discuss the past, conference were to: groups and eight mixed groups. The present, and future of wildland fire • discover common ground in the stakeholder groups were: research in a unique and innovative wildland fire research community; setting. The conference was an experi- • Administration/Policy (two groups) ment, a beginning. • develop a future vision of wildland • Fire Behavior/Risk Management Due to size limitations and conflicting fire research; and schedules, many who might have contrib- • Fire Behavior/Physical Science uted to this effort were unable to do so. • devise a set of action plans to We hope this report accurately expresses the achieve that vision. • Biology/Ecology/Watershed Sciences commitment and work of those attending. To accomplish these goals, all confer- (two groups) Government and non-government organi- ence attendees participated in a series of zations represented included USDA Forest activities to increase their common pool of • Air Issues Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Envi- information about wildland fire research. • Social Science/Wilderness ronmental Protection Agency, National Park Some exercises focused on the past, Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish others looked at the present, still others Within these groups were key stake- and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Man- projected the future. holders in wildland fire research who agement, Los Alamos National Laboratory, could commit to actions and plans. Confer- National Center for Atmospheric Research, ence participants were identified and National Weather Service, National Aero- recruited by a conference steering com- nautic and Space Administration, Canadian mittee (Appendix A) to attend the confer- Forest Service, California Department of ence. Stakeholder and mixed group mem- Forestry and Fire Protection, Colorado State bers are listed by group in Appendix A. Forest Service, Florida Forest Protection Conference participants are listed indi- Bureau, Tall Timbers Research Station, Uni- vidually in Appendix B. versity of Washington, University of Idaho, Each group generated information and University of Montana, University of Wyo- ideas on flip-charts and made presenta- ming, University of Arizona, Fire Protection tions. Two facilitators helped keep the Research Foundation, and The Nature groups focused, the tasks on schedule, Conservancy. and highlighted the major themes. CONTENTS I. THE CHALLENGE ........................................................ 1 II. THE PAST ................................................................. 2 III. THE PRESENT............................................................ 6 IV. FUTURE SCENARIOS ................................................... 18 V. C OMMON GROUND ..................................................... 25 VI. ACTION PLANS ........................................................... 27 VII. CLOSING ................................................................... 30 VIII. CONCLUSIONS ............................................................ 33 APPENDIX A. CONFERENCE COMMITTEES, STAKEHOLDER GROUPS, AND MIXED GROUPS ..... 34 APPENDIX B. CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS ............................. 37 APPENDIX C. TIMELINE....................................................... 40 APPENDIX D. FUTURE SEARCH CONFERENCE PRINCIPLES ........ 48 iii ACRONYMNS The following is a list of some of the acronyms used during this conference. No attempt was made to include an exhaustive list or to verify each meaning. AQ Air Quality LMP Land Management Plan BEMRP Bitterroot Ecosystem Management Research LTERS Long-Term Ecological Research Site Project NGO Non-Governmental Organization BLM Bureau of Land Management NF National Forest CAA Clear Air Act NFS National Forest System DOI Department of the Interior NP National Park EPA Environmental Protection Agency NFDRS National Fire Danger Rating System FACA Federal Advisory Committee Act NSF National Science Foundation FS Forest Service OH Overhead GIS Geographic Information System PL Project Leader GPRA Government Performance and Results Act PNF Prescribed Natural Fire IMRT Interagency Management Review Team Rx Prescribed Fire ICRB Interior Columbia River Basin RD&A Research, Development, and Applications ICS Incident Command System USFS United States Forest Service I&M Inventory and Monitoring USGS U.S. Geological Survey IPA Integrated Planning and Assessment WFAS Wildland Fire Assessment System iv I. THE CHALLENGE The challenge for the wildland fire Management action increas- research community is to meet the rapidly ingly depends on scientific changing and diverse needs of fire manag- knowledge and on the ability ers, ecosystem scientists, and society. to mobilize scientific talents in Traditionally, this close-knit community response to on-the-ground has had a well-defined mission; to support needs. effective fire protection and the use of fire Who constitutes the wild- by land management agencies. Recently land fire research community as that mission and output have become it moves into this new era? Do more diffuse, just as the demand for they retain a common sense of traditional support has expanded. purpose, shared values, and As the importance of natural disturbance mission? What past influences, has become more widely appreciated, fire perceived trends, and future science has become increasingly