The need to continue provisioning the Fire Service with expanded personnel, training. equipment and other resources is unquestioned. At the same time, it is important to understand that there are multiple dimensions to wildfire management.
The Growth of Wildland Urban Interface (WUI)
A number of factors have contributed to the expansion of WUI area in the United States. The overall population growth is one driver- and when segmenting the data by generation – it is clear that Baby Boomers account for a disproportionate amount of WUI area growth. There’s no blame here; a home near the woods or open areas, what’s not to love. A safe estimate is that the total WUI area in the USA expands by 2 million acres per year (source: National Association of State Foresters).
The Growth of Wildfire Fuels
Proactive management of landscapes in the USA is not a new phenomenon but has declined in recent decades. Native Indians in North America utilized clear cutting and prescribed burns as a means of enhancing their hunting areas and food growth as well as wildfire management. Since then, the growth of public land, national parks, protected species, and horticulture, have resulted in enormous growth of the wildfire fuels.
Fuel densities:
• Unprotected land: ~60 – 80 trees/acre
• Protected land: ~2,000 trees/acre
The exposure created by the growth of WUI area and unmanaged wildfire fuels is well documented.
• Communities at Risk: 63,661 (USA)
• Communities at Risk with a Community Wildfire Protection Plan: 30.3%
The percent of Communities at Risk varies dramatically by region.
For all the aforementioned reasons, it is important that we continue to resource Federal Agencies and the fire service to manage the wildfire needs of the county. Concurrently, there is a clear need to define and pursue the most economical methods to manage the growth of wildfire fuels. Managing wildfire fuels is not the exclusive domain of the public sector. Private landowners can also play an important role in managing wildland fuels.
