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- [Narrator] Fire-dependent ecosystems
are increasingly at risk of high-severity wildfires
that threaten communities and multiple values at risk.
Landscape-scale prescribed fire can be utilized
to protect life, property, infrastructure
and ecosystem services in this era
of increasing wildfire risk, as well as restoring
fire-dependent ecosystems and improving wildlife habitat.
Land managers are often tasked with increasing the scale
of prescribed fire application but could benefit
from further direction on the development
of multi-unit, programmatic burn plans.
When are multi-unit or programmatic plans appropriate?
What are the important planning considerations?
And what tools are available to assist
with analysis and burn plan development?
This training module focuses on prescribed fire planning
across multiple scales, with an emphasis
on multi-unit prescribed fire plans.
The Interagency Prescribed Fire Planning
and Implementation Procedures Guide, PMS 484
establishes national interagency standards
for the planning and implementation of prescribed fire.
The PMS 484 outlines the activities to develop single unit,
multi-unit and programmatic plans where the intent
is to ignite single or multiple units.
Increased interest in scaling up the application
of landscape-scale prescribed fire necessitates a review
of the conditions, requirements, and tools
available to improve efficiency and quality of burn plans.
Interagency agreements, memorandums of understanding,
or private landowner agreements
that outline responsibilities are required to implement
prescribed fire across multiple ownerships
but refer to specific agency direction.
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Depending on project specific factors, a single-unit,
multiple-unit, or programmatic burn plan
may be appropriate for your project. All types of burn plans
can be tiered to multiple N.E.P.A. decisions
as long as the objectives are the same
and design criteria can be implemented.
If you're new to multiple-unit or programmatic burn plans,
they may be the right tool for you
to increase the amount of fire
you're able to get on the ground
with just a little bit more time spent planning.
While planning times may be longer, they might give you
more flexibility when it comes to implementation.
Multiple-unit or programmatic burn plans
usually share similarity in vegetation, fuels,
and objectives among the sub-units,
and have been written at all complexity levels.
Programmatic plans may include multiple units
that can be ignited separately or concurrently.
Each unit has site-specific information
developed for the application plan elements
such as the description of prescribed fire area, ignition,
holding, organization, and contingency resources.
Longer duration plans should take potential changes
in fuels and weather over the implementation period
into account, but also should consider the weather
during the holding and patrol phases of implementation.
Sequencing requirements between different ignition units
should also be addressed in multiple-unit plans.
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Since programmatic plans usually apply to large areas
typically measured in the thousands of acres
some variation in vegetation type, and therefore fuel model,
is likely across the landscape. If your objectives
across these vegetation types are relatively similar
or can be achieved under similar environmental conditions
across vegetation types, your project may lend itself
towards a multi-unit burn plan. Even if you need separate
environmental or fire behavior prescriptions
for different fuel models, unit sequencing requirements
may address this issue
in a multiple-unit prescribed fire plan.
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Vegetation types that share similarity
in fire behavior prescription, weather prescription,
and seasonality are often good candidates
for programmatic burn plans.
Vegetation types with differing objectives that require
specific prescriptions should have those objectives
and prescriptions clearly identified for each.
Separate prescriptions may be required
for multiple fuel model conditions,
or for different phases of ignition.
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The foundation for landscape scale prescribed fire planning
is provided in Land and Resource Management Plans,
General Management Plans, Fire Management Plans,
and project-specific National Environmental Policy Act
(N.E.P.A) analysis. Objectives and constraints
for prescribed fire projects are tiered from these documents
and can drastically impact the ease of implementation.
Therefore, incorporating the intent of large scale burning
into early phases of the N.E.P.A process
through clear planning and sound analysis can facilitate
large-scale prescribed fire implementation.
Burn plans can cross boundaries between planning documents
if the objectives and constraints
of all applicable planning documents can be met.
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Whatever type of burn plan you choose for your project,
it must all be cohesively explained together
in the complexity analysis. Remember to fully evaluate
separate prescriptions, organizations, or seasons
of the prescribed fire. For example,
a smaller blackline organization would likely have
lower prescriptive limits than ignition of the entire unit,
which must be documented in the complexity analysis
and carried through the prescription, organization,
ignition, holding, and contingency elements
of the burn plan. In some cases,
separate complexity analyses may be necessary.
For instance if your low intensity blackline operation
can be overseen by an RXB2,
but the main ignitions require an RXB1.
This would still require different prescriptions,
organizations, ignitions, holding, and contingency elements
of the final plan, that clearly reference
which complexity analysis is valid
for which phase of ignition. Finally, make sure
your agency administrator understands this nuance
from plan design throughout implementation.
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Fire behavior characteristics for all fuel models
in the unit and within the maximum spotting distance
of the unit or adjacent to the project boundaries
must be considered. Multiple prescriptions for one burn plan
are permissible but must be supported
with appropriate modeling. Multiple tools are available
for fire behavior and effects modeling.
Geospatial fire modeling systems such as FlamMap and FARSITE
are useful in large landscape level
prescribed fire planning. Some of these desktop applications
have been incorporated into the Interagency Fuel Treatment
Decision Support System, known as I.F.T.D.S.S.
I.F.T.D.S.S is a fuel treatment planning system
designed to house reference data, streamline mapping
and fire behavior modeling and produce reports and products
useful for all types of fuel treatment planning.
Geospatial modeling, whether using
the individual systems or I.F.T.D.S.S,
can assist in the assessment of fire movement
across the landscape and potential problem areas.
A good example would be using the Minimum Travel Time Model
to help inform spread over one or two operational periods
for a contingency or holding plan development.
Spatial Fire Behavior outputs can show areas on a map
that may cause problems such as high flame lengths
or high rates of spread, which may inform
the best placement of burn unit boundaries.
Consider utilizing the skills of an LTAN or FBAN
to develop prescriptions for long-duration
or landscape scale projects. LTANs can be used to conduct
climatology analysis for the planned ignition time,
assess landscape scale fire behavior,
potential fire movement towards areas of concern,
and desired fire effects to assist
with burn plan prescription elements.
Geospatial modeling can assist
with visualizing fire movement across the landscape
and help identify potential problem areas.
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Contingency plans with identified Management Action Points,
M.A.Ps should be identified and addressed
in the prescribed fire plan.
M.A.Ps can be temporal or spatial
but should focus on areas likely to cause problems.
One of the biggest takeaways
from many declared wildfire reviews is the fact that
contingency resources are very often not explicitly defined
and therefore are not sufficient
to bring the project back to prescription.
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Use FireFamilyPlus to evaluate historical climatology
in relation to the project implementation window
and burn prescription development.
FireFamilyPlus can be used to evaluate
the proposed combination of weather prescription elements,
such as temperature and relative humidity
and when these combinations typically occur
for the project area. FireFamilyPlus can be used to examine
general wind directions and wind speeds relative to the area
based on a selected weather station,
for the period and times of interest.
WindNinja can be used to assess wind flow
across complex terrain in the project area
under the preferred or problem wind conditions
and identify critical holding points.
Using climate and climatology to examine potential
longer-term impacts on fuels and potential fire behavior
can help avoid negative outcomes.
This can include indices
such as the Energy Release Component, E.R.C
and 1000-hour fuel moistures,
and in Alaska and the Lake States,
Build-up index, B.U.I., or Fire Weather Index F.W.I.
Using these indices and their interpretation
are strengthened when the current season is compared
to previous years to provide context.
The Fire Behavior Field Reference Guide, F.B.R.G
has a section on weather
covering drought assessments and available products.
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Multi-unit plans may take the format of a primary plan
with all burn plan elements that covers
the full project area, and also include appendices
for each separate ignition unit that provides a map,
prescription, specific objectives and values at risk,
ignition, holding, and contingency elements.
For multiple-unit plans,
identify any special sequencing requirements.
PMS-484 requires that each unit
has site-specific information
developed for applicable plan elements
such as ignition, holding, and contingency
prior to technical review and approval.
Lessons from the field for multi-unit plans suggest that
problems can result from insufficient detail
for specific sub-units.
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Fire-dependent ecosystems are increasingly at risk
of high-severity wildfires that threaten communities
and multiple values at risk,
and land managers are tasked with increasing the scale
of prescribed fire treatments. While planning times
may be longer for multi-unit or programmatic burn plans,
they may offer more flexibility
and efficiency when it comes time to implement.
Incorporating the intent of large scale burning
into early phases of the N.E.P.A process
through clear planning and sound analysis
can facilitate large-scale prescribed fire implementation.
Multiple unit or programmatic burn plans
usually share similarity in vegetation, fuels,
and objectives among the sub-units, and have been written
at all complexity levels.
Plan preparers should take advantage of the multiple tools
available for fire behavior and weather analysis
in the development of large, landscape-scale burn plans.
(upbeat music)