Under a new federal policy, fire managers will be
allowed to put protection of natural resources ahead of property
when they battle blazes on public lands. That policy is the major
contribution of a new report issued jointly by the departments of
Interior and Agriculture. “In the past people expected their homes
to take priority,” says Neil Sampson of Society of American
Forests, who contributed to the report. “Now there will certainly
be hostility.” The federal agencies began work on the new report
following the brutal 1994 fire season, when 4 million acres of
public land burned and 32 people died. The 45-page report advocates
a “holistic approach” to fire safety, stressing cooperation and
communication on all levels, from the federal government down to
individual homeowners. The report offers no single method for
coping with fire, but recommends that fire managers use a range of
tactics from prescribed burns to suppression, depending on
conditions. Steve Frye, Chief Park Ranger of Glacier National Park,
praises the new policy. “On the ground level,” he says, “fire
managers used to take unnecessary risks to save property. From our
standpoint, this is positive change.”
To obtain
a copy of the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy and Program
Review, contact the National Interagency Fire Center, Attn:
External Affairs Office, 3833 S. Development Ave., Boise, ID 83705
(208/387-5457).
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Burning down the house.
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