The National Fire Plan Conference and Wildland Fire 2004 held March 2-5 in Reno, Nev., hosted more than 1,000 attendees, 87 exhibitors and 100 poster displays. This year was the first of a collaborative effort between the International Association of Wildland Fire, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the USDA Forest Service and the Department of Interior.

The second annual National Fire Plan Awards officially kicked off the conference March 2. Lynn Scarlett, assistant secretary for policy, management and budget for the DOI, and Corbin Newman, National Fire Plan coordinator for the USDA Forest Service, presented the awards at the Silver Legacy Hotel in Reno.

The National Fire Plan Awards annually recognize individuals and organizations for outstanding efforts in implementation of the National Fire Plan, a comprehensive 10-year strategy to reduce the threat of wildfires in the United States by 2010.

Newman and Scarlett presented NFP awards to six individuals and six groups for their efforts in 2003:

Collaboration

Sue Stewart, fire ecologist with the Central Oregon Fire Management District, won the Excellence in Collaboration award. “Sue has demonstrated leadership and vision in her outreach to community organizations and commitment to interagency efforts,” said Scarlett. “Sue has been a key player in establishing creative approaches to improving outreach and education opportunities, planning efforts, and National Fire Plan grant coordination.”

The group award went to the Moffat County (Colo.) Fire and Fuel Management Plan. Scarlett said the group brought “vision to life” by establishing a partnership among federal and state agencies, local governments and private landowners. “As a result, several new group efforts have evolved, including a joint training for community leaders through the Nature Conservancy's Fire Learning Network,” Scarlett said.

Community assistance

Ed Smith, a natural resource specialist with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension and a leader in developing defensible-space educational material, won the Excellence in Community Assistance award. With NFP grants, Smith created the “Living with Fire” program, defining defensible space in simple terms and helping teachers, fire departments and homeowners to educate the public. Smith also developed a newspaper insert to teach homeowners about defensible space and a video, “Nevada Burning,” which featured wildfires from 1999 and 2000. More than 2.5 million copies of Smith's publications have been produced.

Pacific Northwest Interagency Community Assistance Grant Team won the group award for community assistance. Comprising representatives of the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Pacific Northwest Grant Team streamlined the NFP grant process by collaborating in the creation of the Northwest Interagency Community Assistance Grant Team and designed a one-stop process for the application, selection and distribution of NFP funds to local communities, states and tribes. During the past three years, the Pacific Northwest Grant Team has distributed more than 100 grants totaling $15 million.

Firefighter preparedness

David Crary Jr., fire management officer for the Cape Cod (Mass.) National Seashore, won the Excellence in Firefighter Preparedness, Safety and Training award. He worked with the Rural Fire Assistance Program to equip local firefighters with more than $40,000 worth of equipment, partnered with a Student Conservation Association Team to evaluate more than 703 wildland-urban interface structures, completed many successful prescribed burns and partnered with the Joint Fire Sciences Project to conduct a fuel demonstration project along the Seashore, Martha's Vineyard and the Montague Pine Barrens.

The Indiana Interagency Coordination Center Group won the group award for creating one centrally located emergency response center for the state. “The Indiana Interagency Coordination Center is the contact point for mobilization of personnel and equipment for in-state and emergency assignments of Indiana resources nationwide, streamlining dispatch procedures, making just one call necessary to contact Indiana fire resources,” Scarlett said.

Hazardous fuel treatment

Gateway Interagency Fire Front Liaison Richard Wolfe, a retired Pocatello (Idaho) fire chief, was honored for leadership in public outreach efforts that led to widespread public support in Idaho's Portneuf/Westbench areas. Scarlett said, “As an integral participant in the creation and development of the Gateway Interagency Fire Front, a consortium of federal, state, and local fire and emergency management agencies, Richard received tremendous support and participation from residents to conduct fuels treatment on private properties. He also introduced a fire prevention program, promoted defensible space among local residents and developed a biomass disposal program that allows homeowners to dispose of hazardous fuels for free.”

The National Forests in Mississippi, which includes six forests that stretch from the Tennessee — Mississippi border to the Gulf of Mexico, won the group award for hazardous fuels treatment. In 2003, the organization completed fuels treatments on nearly 260,000 acres. At the same time, the Forests staff have innovatively addressed training, public outreach and wildland-urban interface needs, Scarlett said.

Innovation in utilization of biomass

Phil Archuletta, the CEO of P&M Plastics Inc., was honored for his development of Altree, a patented, fortified wood-composite product developed in coordination with the Forest Products Laboratory. Altree uses all parts of the tree, Scarlett noted, and is denser and longer-lasting than wood, stain-resistant, waterproof, UV-resistant, impervious to insects, and doesn't leach harmful chemicals into the soil.

The NFP group award for biomass innovation went to Darby Fuels for Schools project, whose members include the Forest Service Forest Products Lab, Darby Public Schools, Bitterroot Resource Conservation and Development Area and the Bitterroot National Forest.

The project combined expanded commercial uses for biomass material to support hazardous fuel projects with a local community's desire to reduce energy costs in schools. “With the introduction of clean-burning biomass boiler systems that heat nearly 100,000 square feet of classrooms and other school buildings, the Darby Fuels for Schools has created a model that is being duplicated throughout the West,” said Scarlett.

Rehabilitation and restoration

The award for Excellence in Rehabilitation and Restoration recognizes post-fire rehabilitation and restoration projects. Richard Schwab of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Interagency Fire Center won the individual award for his involvement in the Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation program. Playing a vital role in the emergency stabilization and rehabilitation efforts on the Apex, Encebado, Cedar, Paradise and Old fires on Indian lands, Rich also served as the course coordinator for the Interagency Burned Area Emergency Response Team Leader and Team Member Training held in April 2003.

The Remote Sensing Applications Center BAER support program won the group award in this category for developing an innovative program using satellite technology to map post-fire conditions. Since its inception in June 2001, the RSAC has supported 142 BAER teams in 13 western states by mapping 4.6 million acres of burned areas. According to Scarlett, “The program's hallmark is the timely delivery of imagery and data to the BAER team upon arrival to an incident. This rapid delivery of post-fire satellite imagery helps BAER teams identify values at risk, prioritize rehabilitation treatment areas, develop soil burn -severity maps, and, most importantly, improve the safety of BAER team members.”

General Session presentations will be posted online at www.iafc.org, as will be information on The National Fire Plan Conference and Wildland Fire 2005 when it becomes available.