NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE FORESTERS
444 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite 540, Washington, DC 20001
 

Statement of Jim Hubbard
State Forester of Colorado
On Behalf of the National Association of State Foresters

 Before the US House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture
Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry

June 13, 2002

The National Fire Plan and Outlook for the 2002 Wildfire Season

Introduction

On behalf of the National Association of State Foresters (NASF), I am pleased that Chairman Bob Goodlatte has asked us to testify today.  NASF is a non-profit organization representing the directors of the state forestry agencies from all fifty states, eight US territories, and the District of Columbia.  The State Foresters manage and protect state and private forests across the US, which together encompass two-thirds of the nation’s forests.

I am representing NASF in my role as liaison to the National Fire Plan (NFP) and Chairman of the NASF Legislative Committee.  The State Foresters have been highly involved with the NFP since its inception, and we remain committed to working with our partners to fully implement its goals.  Our understanding and experience in wildland fire protection across America, combined with our long term partnership with the USDA Forest Service (USFS), has uniquely prepared NASF to discuss progress made to date under the NFP and describe the outlook for the 2002 wildfire season.

As State Foresters we pride ourselves on our longstanding relationships with private landowners and local communities.  Our responsibilities include providing technical and financial assistance to non-industrial private forest landowners, rural and volunteer fire departments, and a wide variety of community and other non-federal interests.  Our unique authorities through USFS State & Private Forestry programs enable us to work cross-boundary to address a broad range of concerns in communities and on state and private lands.  By tapping our experienced field-based personnel, who understand conditions on the ground and the needs of landowners and communities, the State Foresters design and deliver the best possible forestry and fire management assistance nationwide.

NASF and the National Fire Plan

In response to the escalating number and severity of wildfires across the nation, the USFS, Department of the Interior (DOI), and NASF began working with Congress in 2000 to broaden our existing wildland fire management partnership to reduce the risks of wildland fire to communities and the environment.  Nationally recognized as an example of how collaborative, long term planning and action can be successfully applied across the landscape, the NFP represents an effort to strategically coordinate and enhance resources to control, prevent, and mitigate the spread of wildfire.  By supporting community assistance and ecosystem restoration as well as fire suppression and fuels reduction, the Plan provides a vehicle for agencies and citizens to build cooperative relationships that result in innovative, collaborative solutions to wildfire threats.

The dedication of NASF to the NFP stems not only from our understanding of state and private forestry and first hand experience working with landowners, but also our responsibility for wildland fire suppression in our individual states and the firefighting resources that we represent.  State forestry agencies provide fire protection services for state and private forests, 70% of the forestland in the US.  To achieve NFP goals, all lands must be included in the approach.  States provide significant resources to national mobilization and together with volunteer fire departments are our first line of defense against wildfire.  The NFP Community Assistance investment is critical, considering that 90% of initial attack is accomplished by state and local volunteer firefighters.

Origins of the 10-Year Implementation Plan

I would like to provide some background on the development of the NFP, the 10-Year Strategy, and the associated Implementation Plan recently signed by the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior and the Governors.  The extent and damage of the 2000 fire season prompted several Western Governors to meet with the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture in September 2000 to establish the cooperative goals of the NFP in full partnership with the states.  Those goals were first laid out in a report to then-President Clinton entitled “A Report to the President in Response to the Wildfires of 2000: Managing the Impact of Wildfires on Communities and the Environment.”  The Governors and Secretaries left the meeting with a joint commitment for: 

• Full state involvement in all levels of decision making in implementation of the NFP and related programs and activities,
• A focus on cross-boundary implementation of rehabilitation, hazard reduction, and related projects, including making federal funds available for expenditure on non-federal lands, and
• The development of a long term strategy for reducing wildfire risks to communities and improving forest conditions on all land ownerships.

Language in the FY 2001 Interior Appropriations Bill reflected this agreement and specifically called for the development of a long term strategy.  A broadly representative group including local, state, and national interests worked together to develop a strategy to achieve these goals over at least a ten-year time frame.  The resulting plan is unique in that it establishes a three-tiered organizational framework that facilitates collaboration among governments and stakeholders at the local, state, or regional and national levels.  Many states have already begun implementing this model at the state level through the formation of interagency coordination groups that discuss, prioritize, and support projects funded through the NFP.

NASF President Larry Kotchman recently joined Secretaries Norton and Veneman, as well as several Governors, to endorse the Implementation Plan for the Ten-Year Strategy.  The completion of this companion document represents the fulfillment of Congressional direction and provides the priorities, details, and measures of success for successfully moving ahead with implementation.  With that signing, the stage is now set for full engagement of the NFP by all partners.

Implementation Priorities

The Implementation Plan focuses on all four goals of the NFP: (1) prevention and suppression, (2) fuels reduction, (3) restoration of fire-adapted ecosystems, and (4) promoting community assistance.  A key component of both the NFP and the Ten-Year Strategy is to prioritize resources and activities.  This emphasis recognizes that priorities will differ at each level of government and across the various geographic regions of the country.  NASF is working to ensure that local, state, and regional needs are all recognized as implementation moves forward.  For example, in the South and Northeast prevention, suppression, and community assistance remain critical; in the West the focus is largely on hazardous fuels reduction, restoration of fire-adapted ecosystems, and community assistance.  However, regardless of the region, state, or property ownership, suppression must remain a priority because the protection of life and property must never be ignored.  Where fuel reduction is needed and the restoration of fire-adapted ecosystems is critical to reducing the risk of catastrophic fire, we must recognize that it will take a long term effort to accomplish these goals.

Nowhere else are the threat and values at risk more great than in the wildland-urban interface, where homes and other development continues to blur the boundary between city and country.   For example, the rapid development along the Front Range of Colorado is a vivid example of the dangers faced by people and homes in at-risk wildland areas.  Currently, nearly one million Coloradoans reside in interface lands, and the projected growth in such lands in the state is expected to continue at a rate two times the national average.

The cost of suppressing unnaturally large or destructive fires in the complex wildland-urban interface environment often presses state and local resources beyond our capacity.  To address these critical needs in Colorado, the Colorado State Forest Service, in collaboration with federal, state, county and local agencies, as well as private landowners, is taking steps to mitigate the risks of catastrophic wildfire, particularly where lives and property are at greatest risk.  Much of what is being accomplished is a direct result of the funding provided through the NFP and the investment of the partners who have signed on.  There are numerous similar situations and successes throughout most states.  Much of what is being accomplished in the wildland-urban interface is a direct result of funding provided through the NFP and leveraged by the investment of private landowners and other non-federal partners.

Since fire risk affects all lands and ownerships, the threat to the wildland-urban interface and risk to communities are in part a function of the conditions of the wildlands beyond the interface.  Improved collaboration among agencies and support for community assistance will help reduce this threat.  The Implementation Plan stresses the need for local involvement through community assistance.  This is a key element of the NFP due to the growing complexity of the fire problem as the wildland-urban interface continues to expand.

Federally Assisted State Programs

A key federal program to handle wildland-urban interface demands is the new Community and Private Land Fire Assistance program.  Authorized in the 2002 Farm Bill at $35 million per year, it is designed after the successful program funded by the NFP in FY 2001.  This will be a primary component to implementing the NFP and gaining local support.  We urge the the Administration to seek, and Congress fund, this program as authorized under the Farm Bill.  This incentive program provides funding that assists communities, working with the State Foresters, to reduce their fire risk through community fire preparedness planning, private land hazardous fuel reductions, small diameter utilization and market expansion, and public education enterprises such as the FIREWISE program.

Other important incentive programs include State Fire Assistance, Volunteer Fire Assistance and Rural Fire Assistance, three programs that help form a solid foundation for fire protection on state and private lands.  State forestry agencies and rural communities use the technical and financial backing of State Fire Assistance for fuels treatment, hazard reduction, fire prevention outreach, and other preparedness and protection activities.  Local volunteer fire departments rely on the financial support, technical assistance, and firefighting training provided by Volunteer Fire Assistance (USFS) and Rural Fire Assistance (DOI) programs.  When funded adequately, these programs expand state and local firefighting capacity to respond to wildfires, other emergencies, and national disasters.  The Economic Action Program, not included in the President’s budget this year, is another very helpful rural development tool for communities to reduce fuels and reduce their risk of catastrophic fire.  We urge the Subcommittee to support funding for this program.

National Wildland Fire Outlook for 2002

The 2002 national wildland fire season is already displaying catastrophic potential, surpassing that experienced in the devastating fire season of 2000.  To date, the 2002 fire season has recorded 33,344 fires covering 1.32 million acres.  There are currently 29 large fires that remain active in 12 states from Hawaii to Florida, as well as numerous small fires that are causing significant damage (National Interagency Fire Center, June 10, 2002). 

These numbers are significant, especially when compared to the 10-year average and the 2000 fire season.  As of June 10, the 10-year average was 38,561 fires encompassing 763,405 acres.  The 2000 fire season for the same period consisted of 44,177 fires covering 1.20 million acres.  The 2002 fire season has already consumed many more acres than the devastating 2000 fire season.  Ironically, the 2002 fire season has burned more acreage with significantly fewer fires than both the 10-year average and the 2000 fire season.  It is evident that fires are becoming larger and more catastrophic (National Interagency Fire Center, June 10, 2002).

We have potentially severe wildfire conditions throughout many areas of the US with the combination of fuel loads, drought, and the increasing size of the wildland-urban interface.  There are severe drought conditions persisting from the Southwest to the Canadian border east of the Continental Divide to Nebraska.  There is a persistent belt of drought from west Texas throughout the deep South and northward to Maine within the coastal plain.  We are experiencing abnormal drought conditions in Alaska and have above normal fire potential in northern Minnesota (see attached map).

Most importantly, this year’s wildfire season is not just a regional concern, but a national one.  Many areas of the US are facing drought conditions, and wildfire has already occurred within all 50 states.  Distributed throughout the country, wildfire has consumed (National Interagency Fire Center, June 12, 2002):

• Over 420,000 acres in Alaska
• Over 490,000 acres in the West (AZ, NM, CO, NV, UT, WA, OR, ID, CA, MT, WY, ND, SD, NE, and KS)
• Over 390,000 acres in the South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, and VA)
• Over 79,000 acres in the Northeast (CT, DE, IL, IN, IA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VT, WV, and WI)

The Double Trouble Fire that struck the New Jersey Garden State Parkway two weeks ago, burning up to 1,400 acres and forcing the evacuation of more than 100 homes, is an unfortunate reminder that wildfire is a national problem.  The 2002 wildfire problem is spreading north to south, east to west, and will continue to do so as summer progresses.  A hint of the 2002 fire season potential was made apparent on June 6, 2002, when USFS Chief Dale Bosworth noted in a Senate Appropriations hearing an anticipated $266 million shortfall this year for fire suppression for lands under the agency’s jurisdiction.

Conclusion

The severity of the current fire season highlights the need to sustain proactive efforts to reduce wildfire risks.  The collaborative NFP represents such an opportunity.  True collaboration that seeks the full involvement and ownership of a broad range of stakeholders takes time but will produce results over the long run.  Indeed, working together is key to the NFP if we are to achieve a sustained comprehensive approach to fire hazard across all lands over the long term.  To accomplish NFP goals, securing local support will be essential, especially through proactive incentives for action.  Although we have only been at this for three years, we have made tremendous progress in developing an achievable plan and establishing benchmarks for progress.  Since it took over 100 years for the landscape to reach the current condition, it will now take many years of careful management, interagency collaboration, and continued support to implement the NFP and address conditions that reduce the risk of catastrophic fire.  The challenge and urgency will be multiplied by our nation’s continuous population growth and development.

The continued Congressional support of the federal Community Assistance programs under the NFP will be paramount to secure this success.  In addition to good partnerships, collaboration requires commitment to action and continued funding.  State forestry agencies, through programs in the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act and the 2002 Farm Bill, are uniquely positioned to deliver resources in a cross-boundary way.  Continued funding of the NFP ensures that all lands as well as communities can benefit.

NASF remains committed to our partners, the NFP, and its implementation.  The State Foresters and their staffs were actively engaged in the development of the NFP, the Ten-Year Strategy, and the Implementation Plan.  Representatives of NASF are now participating in the effort to define performance measures under the Implementation Plan.  Most recently, NASF has been invited to be a member of the Wildland Fire Leadership Council because of our continued contribution to the development and implementation of the NFP.  We join our many partners in recognizing the emphasis this involvement places on the long term health of fire prone ecosystems and on the collaborative development of wildland fire management priorities and actions.  We look forward to participating in the realization of this strategy at all levels.

Thank you for providing the opportunity for NASF to offer our views on this very important subject.  I will be happy to address any questions you may have.