Download or read book Wildland Fire Management Improvements Could Enhance Federal Agencies Efforts to Contain the Costs of Fighting Fires written by and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Wildland Fire written by United States Accounting Office (GAO) and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-05-15 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wildland Fire: Management Improvements Could Enhance Federal Agencies' Efforts to Contain the Costs of Fighting Fires
Download or read book Wildland Fire written by Robin M. Nazzaro and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Annual appropriations to prepare for and respond to wildland fires have increased substantially over the past decade, in recent years totaling about $3 billion. The Forest Service within the Department of Agriculture and four agencies within the Department of the Interior (Interior) are responsible for responding to wildland fires on federal lands. GAO determined what steps federal agencies have taken to (1) address key operational areas that could help contain the costs of preparing for and responding to wildland fires and (2) improve their management of their cost-containment efforts. This testimony is based on GAO's June 2007 report, Wildland Fire Management: Lack of Clear Goals or a Strategy Hinders Federal Agencies' Efforts to Contain the Costs of Fighting Fires (GAO-07-655).
Download or read book Wildland Fire written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 11 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Wildland Fire Management Lack of Clear Goals or a Strategy Hinders Federal Agencies Efforts to Contain the Costs of Fighting Fires written by United States. Government Accountability Office and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Wildland Fire Management written by and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 11 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our nation's wildland fire problems have worsened in the past decade. The Forest Service within the Department of Agriculture and four agencies within the Department of the Interior (Interior) are responsible for managing fires on federal lands. Federal appropriations to these agencies for wildland fire management have more than doubled since the late 1990s, averaging $2.9 billion annually in recent years. Rising wildland fire costs have challenged the agencies to meet their land management responsibilities. This testimony, based on previous GAO reports, discusses (1) the budgetary and programmatic effects of the increasing cost of fire management activities and (2) steps the agencies could take to help contain wildland fire expenditures and steps they could take, and Congress could consider, to reduce the need to transfer funds from other programs. The sharply rising costs of managing wildland fires have led the Forest Service and Interior agencies to transfer funds from other programs to help pay for fire suppression and, according to agency officials and others, may also be reducing the total funds available to agency programs unrelated to fire. GAO reported in 2004 that from fiscal years 1999 through 2003, the Forest Service and Interior transferred over $2.7 billion from nonfire programs to help fund fire suppression. Although agencies received additional appropriations to cover about 80 percent of the transferred funds, GAO found that the transfers led to canceled and delayed projects and strained relationships with nonfederal partners. Moreover, some of the canceled or delayed projects, such as constructing new facilities, were intended to improve the agencies' capabilities to fight fires. Since 2004, funding transfers have continued, with the agencies' transferring funds in fiscal years 2006, 2007, and 2008. Furthermore, federal and state officials have expressed concern that rising fire management costs are reducing the total funds available to the agencies' nonfire programs. As GAO has reported, there are several steps the agencies could take, and actions Congress could consider, that could mitigate the rising costs of wildland fire management and its effect on the agencies' other programs. ? Although the agencies have, among other actions, improved decision-support tools for helping officials select appropriate strategies for fighting individual wildland fires, the agencies continue to lack both an agencywide strategy for containing fire suppression costs and a broader long-term wildland fire management strategy that identifies options, along with associated funding, for reducing excess vegetation and responding to fires--what GAO has termed a cohesive strategy. ? The agencies could develop a better method of estimating the suppression funds requested, as GAO recommended in 2004. Better estimates in a given year could reduce the likelihood that the agencies would need to transfer funds from other accounts, yet the agencies continue to use an estimation method with known problems. The Forest Service told GAO it analyzed alternative methods for estimating needed suppression funds but determined that no better method was available. Because the agencies had to transfer funds in each of the last 3 years, however, a more accurate method for estimating suppression costs may still be needed. ? In addition, Congress may wish to consider establishing a reserve account to fund emergency wildland firefighting, which could reduce the need for the agencies to transfer funds. The advantages and disadvantages of several alternative funding approaches were discussed in GAO's 2004 report. Congress considered at least two bills in 2008 proposing establishment of a reserve account, but neither bill passed. One of those bills was reintroduced in March 2009.
Download or read book Wildland Fire Management written by United States. Government Accountability Office and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Wildland Fire Management written by United States. Government Accountability Office and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 47 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Wildland Fire Management written by Patricia Dalton and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 19 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The nation's wildland fire problems have worsened dramatically over the past decade, with more than a doubling of both the average annual acreage burned and fed. appropriations for wildland fire mgmt. The deteriorating fire situation has led the agencies responsible for managing wildland fires on fed. lands -- the Forest Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Mgmt. (BLM), Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service -- to reassess how they respond to wildland fire and to take steps to improve their fire mgmt. programs. This testimony discusses: (1) progress the agencies have made in managing wildland fire; and (2) key actions the auditor believes are still necessary to improve their wildland fire mgmt. Illustrations.
Download or read book Wildland Fire Management written by Robin M. Nazzaro and published by DIANE Publishing Inc.. This book was released on 2009-12 with total page 15 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our nation¿s wildland fire problems have worsened in the past decade. The Forest Service and four agencies within the Dept. of the Interior are responsible for managing fires on fed. lands. Fed. appropriations to these agencies for wildland fire mgmt. have more than doubled since the late 1990s, averaging $2.9 billion annually in recent years. Rising wildland fire costs have challenged the agencies to meet their land mgmt. responsibilities. This testimony discusses: (1) the budgetary and programmatic effects of the increasing cost of fire mgmt. activities; and (2) steps the agencies could take to help contain wildland fire expenditures and steps they could take, and Congress could consider, to reduce the need to transfer funds from other programs. Illus.
Download or read book Wildland Fire Management written by Robin M. Nazzaro and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The nation's wildland fire problems have worsened dramatically over the past decade, with more than a doubling of average annual acreage burned and federal appropriations for wildland fire management. The deteriorating fire situation has led the agencies responsible for managing wildland fires on federal lands -- the Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture and four agencies in the Department of the Interior -- to reassess how they respond to wildland fire and to take steps to improve their fire management programs. This report reviewed: (1) progress the agencies have made in managing wildland fire; and (2) key actions previously recommended and are still necessary to improve wildland fire management. Charts and tables.
Download or read book Wildland Fires and Fire Management written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Forest Service and Interior agencies have initiated a number of steps to address key operational areas previously identified as needing improvement to help federal agencies contain wildland fire costs, but the effects on containing costs are unknown, in part because many of these steps are not yet complete. First, federal fire-fighting agencies are developing a system to help them better identify and set priorities for lands needing treatment to reduce fuels, but they have yet to decide how they will keep data in the system current. Second, federal agencies have taken some steps to improve how they acquire and use personnel, equipment, and other fire-fighting assets -- such as implementing a computerised system to more efficiently dispatch and track available fire-fighting assets -- but have not yet completed the more fundamental step of determining the appropriate type and quantity of fire-fighting assets needed for the fire season. Third, the agencies have clarified certain policies and are improving analytical tools that assist officials in identifying and implementing an appropriate response to a given fire, but several other policies limit the agencies' use of less aggressive fire-fighting strategies, which typically cost less. Fourth, federal agencies, working with non-federal entities, have recently taken steps to clarify guidance to better ensure that fire-fighting costs are shared consistently for fires that threaten both federal and non-federal lands and resources, but it is unclear how the agencies will ensure that this guidance is followed. This book is an edited and excerpted version.
Download or read book Costs Containment on Large Fires written by National Association of State Foresters. Forest Fire Protection Committee and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Wildland Fire Management written by U S Government Accountability Office (G and published by BiblioGov. This book was released on 2013-06 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each year, fires on federal lands burn millions of acres and federal land management agencies spend hundreds of millions of dollars to fight them. Wildland fires also threaten communities adjacent to federal lands. The Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and the Interior, the lead federal agencies in fighting wildfires, jointly developed a long-term fire-fighting strategy in September 2000. Five federal land management agencies--the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National Park Service, and the Fish and Wildlife Service--are working together to accomplish the plan's objectives. GAO found that the Forest Service and Interior have not effectively determined the amount of personnel and equipment needed to respond to and suppress wildland fires. Although the agencies have acquired considerably more personnel and equipment than were available in 2000, they have not acquired all of the resources needed to implement the new strategy. Despite having received substantial additional funding, the two agencies have not yet developed performance measures. The Forest Service simply measures the amount of fire-fighting resources it will be able to devote to fire fighting at each location, regardless of risk. Without results-oriented performance measures, it is difficult to hold the Forest Service accountable for the results it achieves. The Forest Service and the Interior agencies use different methods to report fire-fighting personnel costs--an approach that is not in keeping with policies requiring coordination and consistency across all aspects of fire management, including accounting for fire-related costs.
Download or read book Wildland Fire Management A Cohesive Strategy and Clear Cost Containment Goals Are Needed for Federal Agencies to Manage Wildland Fire Activities Effectively written by and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on with total page 12 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Wildland Fire Management written by United States Government Account Office and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-01-17 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wildland Fire Management: Lack of Clear Goals or a Strategy Hinders Federal Agencies' Efforts to Contain the Costs of Fighting Fires
Download or read book Wildland Fire Management written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 13 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past two decades, the number of acres burned by wildland fires has increased, often threatening human lives, property, and ecosystems. The cost of responding to wildland fires has also grown, especially as more homes are built in or near wildlands, an area called the wildland-urban interface. Past management practices, including a concerted federal policy in the 20th century of suppressing fires to protect communities and ecosystems, unintentionally resulted in steady accumulation of dense vegetation that can fuel large, intense, and often costly wildland fires. GAO was asked to identify actions that federal wildland fire agencies need to take to help contain federal wildland fire expenditures. GAO has identified these actions in three of its reports addressing fuel reduction and cost-sharing efforts and as part of an ongoing review of federal agencies' efforts to contain wildland fire preparedness and suppression costs for this committee. Specifically, GAO focused on examining agencies' efforts to (1) reduce accumulated fuels and address wildland fire problems, (2) share with nonfederal entities the costs of responding to multijurisdictional fires, and (3) contain the costs of preparing for and responding to wildland fires. Over the past 7 years, GAO has recommended a number of actions federal wildland fire agencies should take to improve their management of wildland fire activities, actions that could also help contain the rising federal expenditures for responding to wildland fires. These agencies--the Forest Service within the Department of Agriculture and land management agencies within the Department of the Interior--concurred with GAO's recommendations but have not completed, or in some cases have not yet begun, needed actions. GAO's ongoing review of federal agencies' efforts to contain wildland fire preparedness and suppression costs has also identified other actions that may be needed. Specifically, the agencies need to: (1) Develop a cohesive strategy that identifies the options and associated funding to reduce fuels and address wildland fire problems. In 1999, to address the problem of excess fuels and their potential to increase the severity of wildland fires and the cost of suppression efforts, GAO recommended that a cohesive strategy be developed that identified the available long-term options and associated funding for reducing these fuels. In 2005 and 2006, because the agencies had not yet developed one, GAO reiterated the need for such a strategy but broadened its focus to better address the interrelated nature of fuel reduction efforts and wildland fire response. GAO also recommended that, as an interim step, the agencies develop a tactical plan outlining the steps and time frames needed for completing a cohesive strategy. As of January 2007, the agencies had not developed either a cohesive strategy or a tactical plan. (2) Clarify their guidance for sharing wildland fire suppression costs with nonfederal entities. In 2006, to address the rising costs of responding to fires that threaten both federal and nonfederal lands and resources, GAO recommended that the federal agencies provide more specific guidance as to when particular cost-sharing methods should be used. The cost-sharing method used can have significant financial consequences for the entities involved--potentially amounting to millions of dollars. As of January 2007, the agencies were updating their guidance on possible cost-sharing methods and when each typically would be used, but it is unclear how the agencies will ensure that the guidance is followed. (3) Establish clear goals, strategies, and performance measures to help contain wildland fire costs. Preliminary findings from GAO's ongoing work indicate that the effectiveness of agencies' efforts to contain costs may be limited because the agencies have not clearly defined their cost-containment goals, developed a strategy for achieving those goals, or developed related performance measures. For these efforts to be effective, the agencies need to integrate cost-containment goals with the other goals of the wildland fire program--such as protecting life and property--and to recognize that trade-offs will be needed to meet desired goals within the context of fiscal constraints.