Geospatial Information: Technologies Hold Promise for Wildland	 
Fire Management, but Challenges Remain (23-SEP-03, GAO-03-1047). 
                                                                 
Over the past decade, a series of devastating and deadly wildland
fires has burned millions of acres of federal forests,		 
grasslands, and deserts each year, requiring federal land	 
management agencies to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to  
fight them. GAO was asked to assess opportunities to improve the 
way agencies manage fires through the use of geospatial 	 
information technologies, specifically, to (1) identify key	 
geospatial information technologies for addressing different	 
aspects of managing wildland fires, (2) summarize key challenges 
to the effective use of geospatial technologies in managing	 
wildland fires, and (3) identify national opportunities to	 
improve the effective use of geospatial technologies.		 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-03-1047					        
    ACCNO:   A08543						        
  TITLE:     Geospatial Information: Technologies Hold Promise for    
Wildland Fire Management, but Challenges Remain 		 
     DATE:   09/23/2003 
  SUBJECT:   Data collection					 
	     Earth sciences data systems			 
	     Environmental monitoring				 
	     Forest management					 
	     Geographic information systems			 
	     Information resources management			 
	     Information technology				 
	     Interagency relations				 
	     Land management					 
	     Range management					 
	     Strategic information systems planning		 
	     Strategic planning 				 
	     Enterprise architecture				 
	     Wildland fires					 
	     National Fire Plan 				 

******************************************************************
** This file contains an ASCII representation of the text of a  **
** GAO Product.                                                 **
**                                                              **
** No attempt has been made to display graphic images, although **
** figure captions are reproduced.  Tables are included, but    **
** may not resemble those in the printed version.               **
**                                                              **
** Please see the PDF (Portable Document Format) file, when     **
** available, for a complete electronic file of the printed     **
** document's contents.                                         **
**                                                              **
******************************************************************
GAO-03-1047

United States General Accounting Office September 2003

GAO Report to Congressional Requesters

GAO- 03- 1047

GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION

Technologies Hold Promise for Wildland Fire Management, but Challenges
Remain

This is a work of the U. S. government and is not subject to copyright
protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in
its entirety without further permission from GAO. However, because this
work may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the
copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this material
separately.

Geospatial information technologies* sensors, systems, and software that
collect, manage, manipulate, analyze, model, and display information about
locations on the earth*s surface* can aid in managing wildland fires by
providing accurate, detailed, and timely information to federal, state,
and

local decision makers; fire- fighting personnel; and the public. This
information can be used to help reduce the risk that a fire will become
uncontrollable, to respond to critical events while a fire is burning, and
to

aid in recovering from fire disasters. However, there are multiple
challenges to effectively using these technologies to manage wildland
fires, including challenges with data, systems, infrastructure, staffing,
and the effective use of new products. The National Wildfire Coordinating
Group* composed of representatives from the five land management agencies
and from other federal, state, and tribal organizations* has several
initiatives under way to address specific challenges, but progress on
these initiatives has been slow, and not all of the challenges are being
addressed. A root cause of many of these challenges is the lack of an
overall strategy guiding interagency management of

information resources and technology. To improve interagency management of
information resources and technology, different teams within the
Coordinating Group plan to establish an interagency geospatial strategic
plan, a strategy for information resources management, and an interagency
enterprise architecture* a blueprint for operational and technical change
in support of wildland fire management. However, these efforts lack the
seniorlevel endorsement and detailed plans and milestones necessary for
success. Until effective interagency management of information resources
and technology is a priority, the wildland fire community will likely
continue to face challenges in effectively using geospatial information
technologies.

Effectively using geospatial information is of interest beyond the
wildland fire management community. Detailed, accurate, and accessible
geospatial information is critical in addressing homeland security and
national preparedness, supporting our transportation infrastructure, and
managing natural resources, among other activities. For decades, the
federal government has tried to reduce duplicative geospatial data
collection by coordinating activities inside and outside the federal
government. Most recently, Geospatial One- Stop, one of 25 high profile e-
government initiatives sponsored by the Office of Management and Budget,
was initiated to develop national geospatial data standards and an
Internet portal for locating

geospatial data. While this and other initiatives hold promise, achieving
a nationwide network of geospatial data remains a formidable challenge.

GAO focused on the five federal agencies that are primarily responsible
for wildland fire management: the Department of Agriculture*s Forest
Service and the Department of the Interior*s National Park Service, Bureau
of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Indian
Affairs. Over the past decade, a series of devastating and deadly wildland

fires has burned millions of acres of federal forests, grasslands, and
deserts each year, requiring federal land management agencies to spend
hundreds of millions of

dollars to fight them. GAO was asked to assess opportunities to improve
the way agencies manage fires through the use of geospatial

information technologies, specifically, to (1) identify key geospatial
information technologies for addressing different aspects of managing
wildland fires, (2) summarize key challenges to the effective use of
geospatial technologies in managing wildland fires, and

(3) identify national opportunities to improve the effective use of
geospatial technologies. GAO is making a series of recommendations to
address

specific challenges in effectively using geospatial information
technologies and to improve the management of information resources and
technologies in the interagency wildland fire management community.

Commenting on a draft of this report, the Departments of Agriculture and
the Interior agreed with the report*s conclusions and recommendations.

Note: The graphics in this report are in color and are best viewed
electronically.

www. gao. gov/ cgi- bin/ getrpt? GAO- 03- 1047 To view the full product,
including the scope and methodology, click on the link above. For more
information, contact David Powner at (202) 512- 9286 or pownerd@ gao. gov.
Highlights of GAO- 03- 1047, a report to

congressional requesters

September 2003

GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION

Technologies Hold Promise for Wildland Fire Management, but Challenges
Remain

Page i GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Contents Letter 1 Results in Brief 2
Background 5 Numerous Geospatial Technologies Can Be Used to Address
Different Aspects of Wildland Fire Management 12 The Wildland Fire
Community Faces Numerous Challenges in Using Geospatial Information
Technologies Effectively; More Must Be Done to Address These

Challenges 30 New National Efforts to Improve the Use of Geospatial
Information Are Promising, but Challenges to Effective Data Sharing Remain
37 Conclusions 40 Recommendations 41 Agency Comments 42 Appendix I:
Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 44 Appendix II: Major Wildland Fire
Policies, Plans, Reports, and Initiatives 48 Appendix III: Federal, State,
and Local Entities with Land Management, Technology, or

Other Fire- Related Roles 52 Federal Departments and Agencies 52 State,
Local, and Other Associations and Committees 54 Appendix IV: Remote
Sensing Systems 57 Appendix V: Examples of Applications with Geospatial
Components Supporting Wildland Fire Management 60 Appendix VI: Comments
from the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior 66 Appendix VII: GAO
Contacts and Acknowledgments 68 GAO Contacts 68 Acknowledgments 68
Glossary 69

Page ii GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Figures

Figure 1: Wildland Fire Management Activities
..................................... 6 Figure 2: Acres of Land Managed by
Federal Land Management
Agencies......................................................................................
7 Figure 3: National Wildfire Coordinating Group: Member Organizations
............................................................................
9 Figure 4: Members of the Wildland Fire Leadership Council ............
10 Figure 5: Overview of the Flow of Data Among Key Geospatial

Information Technologies and Resulting Products of These
Technologies................................................................
15 Figure 6: Vegetation Map, Rocky Mountain Region, Colorado, August
1999.............................................................................
17 Figure 7: Fire Hazard Map, Rocky Mountain Region, Colorado, August
1999.............................................................................
18 Figure 8: National Wildland Fire
Outlook.............................................. 19 Figure 9: Fire
Danger Map
........................................................................
20 Figure 10: Satellite Images of Fires in the Northwestern United

States, July 21,
2003............................................................... 21
Figure 11: Satellite Image Showing Early Fire Perimeters for the Rodeo and
Chediski Fires, Arizona, June 2002................ 22 Figure 12: An Aerial
Infrared Image and Resulting Fire Perimeter Map, September
2001.......................................... 23 Figure 13: Output of a
Fire Behavior Model.......................................... 24 Figure
14: Internet- Based Maps of Active Fires
................................... 25 Figure 15: Burn Severity Map,
Hayman Fire, June 2002..................... 27 Tables

Table 1: Key Geospatial Technologies
................................................... 13 Table 2:
Characteristics of Selected Remote Sensing Systems......... 58 Table 3:
Examples of Operational Applications .................................. 60
Table 4: Examples of Developmental Applications
............................ 64 Abbreviations

BIA Bureau of Indian Affairs BLM Bureau of Land Management FGDC Federal
Geographic Data Committee

FS Forest Service FWS Fish and Wildlife Service GIS geographic information
system IRM information resource management

IT information technology

Page iii GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires MODIS Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NOAA
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NPS National Park Service NWCG National Wildfire Coordinating Group USGS
U. S. Geological Survey

Page 1 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Letter September 23, 2003

The Honorable Mark Udall House of Representatives

The Honorable Joel Hefley House of Representatives Over the past decade,
there has been a series of devastating and deadly wildland fires on
federal lands. Fires like these burn millions of acres of forests,
grasslands, and deserts each year,

requiring federal land management agencies to spend hundreds of millions
of dollars to fight them. Wildland fires also threaten communities that
are near federal lands. During the 2002 fire season, approximately 88,458
wildland fires burned about 6.9 million acres and cost the federal
government over $1.6 billion to suppress. These fires destroyed timber,
natural vegetation, wildlife habitats, homes, and businesses, and they
severely damaged forest soils and watershed areas for decades to come. The
2002 fires also caused the deaths of 23 firefighters and drove thousands
of people

from their homes. Only 2 years earlier, during the 2000 fire season,
approximately 123,000 fires had burned more than 8.4 million acres and
cost the federal government over $2 billion.

Geospatial information technologies* sensors, systems, and software that
collect, manage, manipulate, analyze, model, and display information about
locations on the earth*s surface* can aid in managing wildland fires by
providing accurate, detailed, and timely information to federal, state,
and local decision makers; firefighting personnel; and the public. This
information can be used to help reduce the risk that a fire will become
uncontrollable, to respond to critical events while a fire is burning, and
to aid in recovering from fire disasters. Concerned with recent wildland
fires, you asked us to assess

opportunities to improve the way agencies manage fires through the use of
geospatial information technologies. Specifically, our objectives were to
(1) identify key geospatial information technologies for addressing
different aspects of wildland fire management, (2) summarize key
challenges to the effective use of

Page 2 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires geospatial technologies in wildland
fire management, and (3) identify national opportunities to improve the
effective use of geospatial technologies.

To accomplish these objectives, we focused our review on the five key
federal agencies that are primarily responsible for wildland fire
management on public lands: the Department of Agriculture*s Forest Service
and the Department of the Interior*s National Park Service, Bureau of Land
Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs. To
address the final objective, we also reviewed national efforts to improve
the use of geospatial information, undertaken by the Office of Management
and Budget and the Federal Geographic Data Committee. We conducted our
work between October 2002 and September 2003 in accordance with generally
accepted government auditing standards. Appendix I

contains further details on our objectives, scope, and methodology. Key
terms are defined in the glossary. Results in Brief

Numerous geospatial information technologies are currently available, in
use, or under development that can aid in wildland fire management. These
technologies include remote sensing systems, the Global Positioning
System, geographic information systems (GIS), and specialized software for
modeling and visualizing

locations and events. Land management agencies are using geospatial
technologies in a number of different ways, ranging from mapping
vegetation and dangerous accumulations of fuel, to identifying the
perimeter and behavior of active fires, to mapping burned areas for
rehabilitation. However, the extent to which these

technologies are currently being used is not fully known. There are
multiple challenges to effectively using geospatial technologies* all
complicated by the fact that wildland fire management extends beyond a
single agency*s responsibility and

requires a collaborative interagency approach. Key challenges include
issues with the following:

* Data: Geospatial data are not consistently available and are not
compatible across different agencies, states, and local entities. As a
result, decision makers often lack the timely, integrated information they
need to make sound decisions in managing different aspects of wildland
fire.

Page 3 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires * Systems: Agencies have developed
multiple, duplicative systems to address local or agency- specific needs.
As a result, many similar systems are not interoperable. Also, there is no
single

comprehensive inventory of the systems used to support wildland fire
management. * Infrastructure: GIS specialists do not consistently have
access to the equipment, communications infrastructure, and Internet when

and where they need them to address wildland fires. As a result, these
specialists often have difficulty in obtaining and manipulating geospatial
data and in producing geospatial maps at remote fire sites.

* Staffing: The training and qualifications of the GIS specialists who
work on wildland fires are not consistent, resulting in major differences
in these individuals* capabilities.

* New products: While new products and services are available to support
wildland fire management, commercial vendors expressed concern that the
fire community is not aware of these products. Land management agencies
noted that the cost of commercial products can be prohibitive and that
licensing restrictions can keep local land units from sharing data with
others in the wildland fire

community. The National Wildfire Coordinating Group* comprising
representatives from the five land management agencies and from other
federal, state, and tribal organizations* has several initiatives under
way to address specific challenges to using geospatial information
technologies, but progress on these initiatives has been slow, and these
initiatives do not address all of the challenges. A root cause of many of
these challenges is the lack of an overall strategy guiding interagency
management of information

resources and technologies. Currently, different teams within the
Coordinating Group are planning initiatives to improve the interagency
management of information resources and technology. Focusing specifically
on geospatial technologies, one interagency team has proposed developing
an interagency strategic plan for

using geospatial technologies to support wildland fire management. Another
interagency team developed a draft Information Resource Management (IRM)
strategy that provides high- level objectives for interagency IRM
management. At a broader level, another interagency team plans to develop
an enterprise architecture* a blueprint for operational and technological
change

in support of wildland fire management. However, these efforts lack the
senior- level endorsement and the detailed plans and

Page 4 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires milestones necessary for success.
Until effective interagency management of information technologies becomes
a priority, the wildland fire community will likely continue to face
challenges in

effectively using geospatial technologies. Effectively using geospatial
information is of interest beyond the wildland fire management community.
Detailed, accurate, and accessible geospatial information is critical in
addressing homeland security and national preparedness, supporting our
transportation infrastructure, managing natural resources, and carrying
out the

national census* among other activities. For decades, the federal
government has tried to reduce duplicative geospatial data collection by
coordinating GIS activities within and outside the federal government.
Most recently, the E- Government Act of 2002 called for common protocols
for geographic information systems in order to reduce redundant data
collection and information and

to promote collaboration and use of standards for government geographic
information. 1 To improve the use of geospatial data, the Office of
Management and Budget initiated Geospatial One- Stop, a project to develop
an Internet portal for locating geospatial data and to develop national
geospatial data standards. While this and other initiatives hold promise,
achieving the vision of a nationwide network of geospatial data remains a
formidable challenge. We recently reported that a much more substantial
effort will be required to attain the broader vision of seamless
integration of GIS data nationwide* and that this effort will probably
have to continue over an extended period of time. 2 We are making
recommendations to the Secretaries of Agriculture

and the Interior to address specific challenges in effectively using
geospatial technologies and to improve the management of information
resources and technologies in the interagency wildland

fire management community. In commenting on a draft of this report, the
departments agreed with the report*s conclusions and recommendations, and
noted that staff from the two departments will be tasked with developing
an action plan to address our findings and the broader issue of geospatial
needs for wildland fire management.

1 Sec. 216, P. L. 107- 347, December 17, 2002. 2 U. S. General Accounting
Office, Geographic Information Systems: Challenges to Effective Data
Sharing, GAO- 03- 874T (Washington, D. C.: June 10, 2003).

Page 5 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Background Wildland Fire Management
Life Cycle: An Overview Effectively managing wildland fires can be viewed
in terms of a life

cycle* there are key activities that can be performed before a fire starts
to reduce the risk of its becoming uncontrollable; other activities that
can take place during a fire to detect the fire before it gets too large
and to respond to it; and still others that can be performed after a fire
has stopped in order to stabilize, rehabilitate, and restore damaged
forests and rangelands. Prefire activities can include identifying areas
that are at risk for wildland fire by assessing changes in vegetation and
the accumulation of fuels (including small trees, underbrush, and dead
vegetation), as

well as these fuels* proximity to communities; taking action to reduce
fuels through a variety of mechanisms (including timber harvesting,
management- ignited or prescribed fires, mechanical thinning, and use of
natural fires); and monitoring fire weather conditions. Other activities
during this phase can include providing fire preparedness training and
strategically deploying equipment and personnel resources to at- risk
areas. Activities that take place during a fire include detecting fires,
dispatching resources, planning the initial attack on the fire,

monitoring and mapping the fire*s spread and behavior, and planning and
managing subsequent attacks on the fire* if they are warranted. Postfire
activities can include assessing the impact of the fire; providing
emergency stabilization of burned areas to protect life, property, and
natural resources from postfire degradation, such as flooding,
contamination of a watershed area,

and surface erosion; rehabilitating lands to remove fire debris, repair
soils, and plant new vegetation; and monitoring the rehabilitation efforts
over time to ensure that they are on track. Other activities* such as
enhancing community awareness* can and should take place throughout the
fire management life cycle. Figure 1 depicts a fire management life cycle,
with key activities in

each phase.

Page 6 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Figure 1: Wildland Fire Management
Activities Federal Land Management Responsibilities Five federal agencies
share responsibility for managing the majority of our nation*s federal
lands* the Department of Agriculture*s Forest Service (FS) and the
Department of the

Interior*s National Park Service (NPS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM),
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). While
each agency has a different mission and responsibility for different areas
and types of land, they work together to address catastrophic wildland
fires, which often cross agency boundaries. In addition, state, local, and
tribal governments and private individuals own thousands of acres that are
adjacent to federal lands and are similarly susceptible to wildland fires.
Figure 2 shows the number of acres of land managed by each of the five

federal agencies.

Page 7 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Figure 2: Acres of Land Managed by
Federal Land Management Agencies

The National Fire Plan After years of catastrophic fires, in September
2000, the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior jointly issued a
report on managing the impact of wildland fires. This report forms the
basis of what is now known as the National Fire Plan* a long- term
multibillion- dollar effort to address the nation*s risk of wildland

fires. The plan directs funding and attention to five key initiatives: *
Hazardous fuels reduction* investing in projects to reduce the buildup of
fuels that leads to severe fires. * Firefighting* ensuring adequate
preparedness for future fires by acquiring and maintaining personnel and
equipment and by placing

firefighting resources in locations where they can most effectively be
used to respond to fires. * Rehabilitation and restoration* restoring
landscapes and rebuilding ecosystems that have been damaged by wildland
fires. * Community assistance* working directly with communities to ensure
that they are adequately protected from fires. * Accountability*
establishing mechanisms to oversee and track

progress in implementing the National Fire Plan, which includes developing
performance measures, processes for reporting progress, and budgeting
information. A key tenet of the National Fire Plan is coordination between
government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels to develop
strategies and carry out programs. Building on this goal of cooperation,
the five land management agencies have worked with

Page 8 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires state governors and other stakeholders
to develop a comprehensive strategy and an implementation plan for
managing wildland fires,

hazardous fuels, and ecosystem restoration and rehabilitation on federal
and adjacent state, tribal, and private forest and rangelands in the
United States. Appendix II provides a summary of the major federal
policies, plans, reports, and initiatives on managing wildland fires and
how they are related. In developing these integrated plans and
initiatives, the land management agencies identified other federal
agencies that have roles in wildland fire management: agencies that manage
other federal lands, including the Department of Defense and Department of
Energy; agencies that research, manage, or use technologies that can aid
in wildland fire management, including the Department of the Interior*s U.
S. Geological Survey, the National Aeronautical and Space Administration,
the Department of Commerce*s National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, and the Department of Defense*s National Imagery and
Mapping Agency; and agencies with other fire- related responsibilities,
including the Department of Homeland

Security*s Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Environmental
Protection Agency. The integrated plans also identify key state and local
organizations that may collaborate on

wildland fire management. Appendix III identifies key federal, state, and
local organizations and their roles in wildland fire management.

An Interagency Framework Supports the National Fire Plan Over the past
four decades, the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior have
established an interagency framework to handle wildland fire management* a
framework that currently supports the National Fire Plan. In 1965, the
Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management established the National
Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. The Fire Center is the nation*s
principal management and logistical support center for wildland
firefighting

and now includes the five land management agencies, the National Weather
Service, and the Department of the Interior*s Office of Aircraft Services.
The Department of Homeland Security*s Federal

Emergency Management Agency and the National Association of State
Foresters also have a presence at the center. Working together,
representatives from this mix of organizations exchange fire protection
information and training services and coordinate and support operations
for managing wildland fire incidents while they are occurring, throughout
the United States.

Page 9 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires In 1976, the departments established
the National Wildfire Coordinating Group to coordinate government
standards for wildland fire management and related programs, in order to
avoid

duplicating the various agencies* efforts and to encourage active
collaboration among entities. This group comprises representatives from
the five land management agencies and from other federal, state, and
tribal organizations. Figure 3 identifies these member organizations. The
coordinating group seeks to foster more

effective execution of each agency*s fire management program through
agreements on common training, equipment, and other standards; however,
each agency determines whether and how it will adopt the group*s
proposals. The group is organized into 15 working teams, which focus on
issues that include information resource management (IRM), fire equipment,
training, fire weather,

and wildland fire education. Most recently, the coordinating group
established the IRM program management office to further support the IRM
working team by developing guidance and products. In addition, the IRM
working team has established two subgroups to focus on specific issues
involving geospatial information and data

administration.

Figure 3: National Wildfire Coordinating Group: Member Organizations

In recent years, we have reported that despite these interagency efforts,
the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior had not established
clearly defined and effective leadership for ensuring collaboration and
coordination among the organizations that respond to wildland fires. 3
Further, the National Academy of Public Administration recommended that
the Secretaries of

3 U. S. General Accounting Office, The National Fire Plan: Federal
Agencies Are Not Organized to Effectively and Efficiently Implement the
Plan, GAO- 01- 1022T (Washington, D. C.: July 31, 2001); Severe Wildland
Fires: Leadership and Accountability Needed to Reduce Risks to Communities
and Resources, GAO- 02- 259 (Washington, D. C.: Jan. 31, 2002); Wildland
Fire Management: Improved Planning Will Help Agencies Better Identify
Fire- Fighting Preparedness Needs, GAO- 02- 158 (Washington, D. C.: Mar.
29, 2002).

Page 10 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Agriculture and the Interior
establish a national interagency council to achieve more consistent and
coordinated efforts in

implementing national fire policies and plans. 4 In response to these
concerns, in April 2002, the departments established the Wildland Fire
Leadership Council. This council comprises senior members of both
departments and of key external organizations; it is charged

with providing active, visible interagency leadership and coordination and
consistent, integrated policy direction to the land management agencies
regarding wildland fire management.

Figure 4 identifies members of the Leadership Council.

Figure 4: Members of the Wildland Fire Leadership Council

Accurate information about specific locations is critical to all of the
activities in wildland fire management. To manage information that extends
beyond organizational boundaries in support of a common

mission* such as the wildland fire mission* it is useful to view these
activities within the context of the information technology management
discipline of enterprise architecture management.

Enterprise Architecture: A Brief Description If properly developed, an
enterprise architecture provides a clear and comprehensive picture of an
entity, whether it is an organization (for example, a federal department,
agency, or bureau) 4 Frank Fairbanks, Henry Gardner, Elizabeth Hill, Keith
Mulrooney, Charles Philpot, Karl Weick, and Charles Wise, Managing
Wildland Fire: Enhancing Capacity to Implement the Federal Interagency
Policy (Washington, D. C.: National Academy of Public Administration,
December 2001).

Page 11 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires or a functional or mission area that
cuts across more than one organization (for example, grant management,
homeland security, or wildland fire management). These architectures are
recognized

as essential tools for effectively and efficiently engineering business
operations and the systems and databases that are needed to support these
operations.

Enterprise architectures are systemically derived and captured blueprints
or descriptions* in useful models, diagrams, and narrative* of the mode of
operation for a given enterprise. This mode of operation is described in
both (1) logical terms, such as interrelated business processes and
business rules, information

needs and flows, data models, work locations, and users, and (2) technical
terms, such as hardware, software, data, communications, and security
attributes and performance standards. They provide these perspectives both
for the enterprise*s current, or *as is,* environment and for its target,
or *to be,* environment, as well as a transition plan for moving from the
*as is* to the *to be* environment.

Using enterprise architectures is a basic tenet of effective information
technology (IT) management, embodied in federal guidance and commercial
best practices. 5 We recently issued an executive guide for improving
enterprise architecture management. 6 When developed and used properly,
these

architectures define both business operations and the underlying IT
infrastructure that supports these operations in a way that optimizes
interdependencies and interrelationships. They provide a common frame of
reference to guide and constrain decisions about the content of
information asset investments in a way that can ensure that the right
information is available to those who need it, when they need it. Employed
in concert with IT investment management practices designed to ensure that
new investments are compliant with the architecture, enterprise
architectures can greatly increase an organization*s likelihood of making
successful and effective technology investments. 7 Our experience with
federal

5 For example, see Office of Management and Budget, Management of Federal
Information Resources, Circular No. A- 130 (Washington, D. C.: November
2000) and U. S. General Accounting Office, Executive Guide: Improving
Mission Performance through Strategic

Information Management and Technology: Learning from Leading
Organizations,

GAO/ AIMD- 94- 115 (Washington, D. C.: May 1994). 6 U. S. General
Accounting Office, Information Technology: A Framework for Assessing and
Improving Enterprise Architecture Management (Version 1.1), GAO- 03- 584G
(Washington, D. C.: April 2003). 7 U. S. General Accounting Office,
Information Technology Investment Management: A

Framework for Assessing and Improving Process Maturity (Exposure Draft),
GAO/ AIMD10.1.23 (Washington, D. C.: May 2000).

Page 12 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires agencies has shown that investing in
information technology without the context of an architecture often
results in systems that are duplicative, not well integrated, and
unnecessarily costly to maintain and interface. 8 Numerous Geospatial
Technologies Can Be Used to Address Different Aspects of Wildland Fire
Management

Geospatial information technologies* sensors, systems, and software that
collect, manage, manipulate, analyze, model, and display information about
positions on the earth*s surface* can aid in managing wildland fires by
providing accurate, detailed, and timely information to federal, state,
and local decision makers; firefighting personnel; and the public. This
information can be used to help reduce the risk that a fire will become
uncontrollable, to respond to critical events while a fire is burning, and
to aid in recovering from fire disasters. Specific examples of geospatial
technologies include remote

sensing systems, the Global Positioning System, and geographic information
systems. In addition, specialized software can be used in conjunction with
remote sensing data and geographic information systems to manipulate
geographic data and allow users to analyze, model, and visualize locations
and events. Table 1 describes key geospatial technologies.

8 See, for example, U. S. General Accounting Office, DOD Business Systems
Modernization: Improvements to Enterprise Architecture Development and
Implementation Efforts Needed,

GAO- 03- 458 (Washington, D. C.: February 2003); Information Technology:
DLA Should Strengthen Business Systems Modernization Architecture and
Investment Activities, GAO01- 631 (Washington, D. C.: June 2001); and
Information Technology: INS Needs to Better Manage the Development of Its
Enterprise Architecture, AIMD- 00- 212 (Washington, D. C.: August 2000).

Page 13 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Table 1: Key Geospatial Technologies
Technology Description Remote

sensing systems

Remote sensing systems observe data that are either emitted or reflected
by the earth and the atmosphere, collecting these data from a distance*
such as from a satellite or an aerial platform. Remote sensing systems
involve different observing technologies, including cameras, scanners,
radar and sonar systems, radiometers, lasers, and thermal devices* to name
a few* and are capable of collecting data from one or more

bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. a Data from different bands provide
different kinds of information. For example, data observed in the infrared
band can identify heat sources that are not observable in the visible band
of the electromagnetic spectrum.

When data are collected from multiple bands, a more sophisticated analysis
can be performed. Key factors that differentiate one sensor from another
include the type( s) of data collected, the resolution b of the images,
the width (or swath) of area covered on the ground, and the rate at which
the sensor*s platform revisits an area on the ground. Appendix IV provides
more detail on types of sensors and identifies the characteristics of
several remote sensing systems. After being observed, remotely sensed data
need to be processed* a function that can include referencing the data to
a position on earth, calibrating them, and then

transforming them into a usable format. The resulting product can be an
image or a quantitative data product, which can in turn be used as an
input to other geospatial technologies, including geographic information
systems and specialized software. Global Positioning

System The Global Positioning System is a constellation of orbiting
satellites that provides

navigation data to military and civilian users around the world. These
satellites orbit the earth every 12 hours, emitting continuous navigation
signals. With the proper equipment, users can receive these signals and
use them to calculate time, location, and velocity. Receivers have been
developed for use on aircraft, ships, and land- based vehicles, as well as
via mobile hand- held units. Data from the Global Positioning System can
be used to reference remotely sensed aerial images or ground- based human
observations to specific geographic coordinates, a process called
georeferencing.

Geographic information systems

A geographic information system (GIS) is a system of computer software,
hardware, and data used to manipulate, analyze, and graphically display a
potentially wide array of information associated with geographic
locations. These systems can receive input

from remotely sensed images from satellites and aerial platforms, as well
as from other sources, including human observation, tabular data, and
maps. These systems are capable of relating multiple layers of data (such
as roads, vegetation, structures, and

utilities) concerning the same geographical location and representing
these multiple layers of information as one composite result. Specialized

software Specialized software for modeling, decision support, and
visualization complements the

sensing, positioning, and GIS technologies described above by allowing
analysts and managers to analyze data and explore different scenarios* and
thereby make better informed decisions. For example, fire behavior
specialists use such software to model fire behavior. Inputs to these
models come from satellite images as well as weather data, tabular data,
and on- the- ground observations. Source: GAO. a A spectral band is a set
of adjacent wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum. Examples include
the ultraviolet, visible, nearinfrared,

mid- infrared, and thermal infrared bands. b Spatial resolution is a
measure of the size of the smallest feature that can be distinguished in
an image. That is, in a 30- meter resolution image, one can discern
objects 30 meters and larger. Images with smaller discernable objects are
considered to have higher resolutions.

Page 14 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires While individual technologies can be
used to obtain information and products, the integration of these
technologies holds promise for providing even more valuable information to
decision makers.

For example, remote sensing systems provide images that are useful in
their own right. However, when images are geo- referenced and combined
with other layers of data in a geographic information system* and then
used with specialized software* a more sophisticated analysis can be
performed, and more timely

and sound decisions can be made. Figure 5 provides an overview of the
relationships among the different technologies and some resulting
products.

Page 15 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Figure 5: Overview of the Flow of
Data Among Key Geospatial Information Technologies and Resulting Products
of These Technologies

Federal Land Management Agencies Are Using Geospatial Technologies to
Support Wildland Fire Management The geospatial information technologies
mentioned above* remote

sensing systems, the Global Positioning System, geographic information
systems, and specialized software . are being used to some extent in
managing wildland fires. These technologies are used throughout the
wildland fire management life cycle. Key examples follow.

Page 16 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Examples of Geospatial Technology
Use: Prefire Before a fire starts, local and regional land managers often
use

vegetation and fuels maps derived from remote sensing data in conjunction
with a geographic information system to understand conditions and to
identify areas for fuels treatments. Some land management offices have
also developed software to help them assess risk areas and prioritize
fuels treatment projects. For

example, figure 6 depicts a vegetation map, and figure 7 depicts a map
showing areas with increased risk of fires. Interestingly, an area that
the map identified as being at high risk of fire later

burned during the Hayman fire of 2002.

Page 17 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Figure 6: Vegetation Map, Rocky
Mountain Region, Colorado, August 1999

Page 18 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Figure 7: Fire Hazard Map, Rocky
Mountain Region, Colorado, August 1999

Land management agencies also use geospatial products related to the
weather to aid in fire planning, detecting, and monitoring activities.
Weather- based products are derived from ground- based lightning detection
and weather observing systems, as well as from fire- related weather
predictions from the National Weather Service.

Page 19 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Figure 8 depicts a seasonal fire
outlook, and figure 9 depicts a fire danger map that is based on daily
weather predictions.

Figure 8: National Wildland Fire Outlook

Page 20 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Figure 9: Fire Danger Map

Examples of Geospatial Technology Use: During Fire During a fire, some
fire responders use satellite and aerial imagery, in combination with
Global Positioning System data, geographic information systems, and
specialized fire behavior modeling software, to obtain information about
the fire and to help plan how they will respond to it. For example, the
Forest Service uses satellite data to produce images of active fires.
Also, the National Interagency Fire Center manages an aerial infrared
program that

flies aircraft equipped with infrared sensors over large fires to detect
heat and fire areas. These images contribute to the development of daily
fire perimeter maps. Figure 10 depicts a satellite image of active fires.
Figure 11 depicts a satellite image of a fire perimeter, and figure 12
depicts an aerial infrared image and

a fire perimeter map based on that image. Some incident teams also use
fire growth modeling software to predict the growth of wildland fires in
terms of size, intensity, and spread, considering variable terrain, fuels,
and weather. Using this information, incident managers are able to
estimate short- and long- term fire behaviors, plan for potential fires,
communicate concerns and needs to state

and local governments and the public, and request and position resources.
Figure 13 shows the output of a fire behavior model.

Page 21 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Figure 10: Satellite Images of Fires
in the Northwestern United States, July 21, 2003

Note: Images from NASA*s Aqua satellite, Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS).

Page 22 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Figure 11: Landsat Satellite Image
Showing Early Fire Perimeters for the Rodeo and Chediski Fires, Arizona,
June 2002

Page 23 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Figure 12: An Aerial Infrared Image
and Resulting Fire Perimeter Map, September 2001

Page 24 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Figure 13: Output of a Fire Behavior
Model

Geospatial technologies are also used to provide information on active
fires to the general public. The wildland fire community and the U. S.
Geological Survey established an Internet Web site, at www. geomac. gov,
to provide access to geospatial information about active fires. This site
allows visitors to identify the location of wildland fires on a broad
scale and then focus in to identify information on the location and status
of specific fires. Figure 14 shows images from the Web site.

Page 25 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Figure 14: Internet- Based Maps of
Active Fires

It is important to note that there are many commercial products and
services available for use during a fire* ranging from high- resolution
aerial and satellite imagery, to handheld Global Positioning System
devices, to enhanced visualization models, to on- site geographic
information systems, equipment, and personnel.

Page 26 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Incident commanders responsible for
responding to fires often choose to purchase commercial products and
services to supplement interagency resources.

Examples of Geospatial Technology Use: Postfire After a fire occurs,
burned- area teams have recently begun to use remote sensing data in
conjunction with geographic information systems to determine the extent of
fire damage and to help plan and implement emergency stabilization and
rehabilitation efforts. Typical products include burn severity and burn
intensity maps. Figure 15 depicts a satellite image and a burn severity
map showing areas that have a high priority for emergency stabilization
measures. Geospatial technologies also aid in monitoring

rehabilitation efforts for years after a fire to ensure that restoration
plans are on track.

Page 27 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Figure 15: Burn Severity Map, Hayman
Fire, June 2002

New Uses of Geospatial Information Technologies to Aid in Wildland Fire
Management Are under Development The Forest Service and Interior are
researching and developing new applications of geospatial information
technologies to support business needs in wildland fire management. In
addition, the Joint

Page 28 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Fire Science Program, a partnership
of the five land management agencies and the U. S. Geological Survey,
funds numerous research projects each year on fire and fuels management.
Once again, these initiatives vary greatly* ranging from research on
remote sensing

systems to the development of interagency information systems with
geospatial components, to improvements in existing software models.
Examples of these efforts include the following:

* Sensor research. Several new research projects are under way on LIDAR
and hyperspectral sensors. 9 For example, a BLM state office is
researching the use of high- resolution hyperspectral and LIDAR imaging
technologies for improving the identification of vegetation;

planning hazardous fuels projects; and monitoring wildland urban interface
projects, the effects of wildland fires, and fire rehabilitation efforts.
Additionally, the Forest Service is exploring

the use of mobile LIDAR systems for assessing smoke plumes, and it is
conducting research on using LIDAR data, satellite data, and modeling
techniques to forecast air quality after a fire.

* Vegetation data and tools. The five land management agencies and the U.
S. Geological Survey are working together to develop a national geospatial
dataset and a set of modeling tools for wildland fire planning. This
effort, called LANDFIRE, is to provide a

comprehensive package of spatial data layers, models, and tools needed by
land and fire managers. The system is expected to help prioritize, plan,
complete, and monitor fuel treatment and

restoration projects on national, regional, and local scales. A prototype
of the system covers central Utah and Northwestern Montana and is expected
to be completed by April 2005. * Interagency information systems. The five
land management

agencies are developing information systems for use by Interior and Forest
Service offices to track efforts under the National Fire Plan. The
National Fire Plan Operations and Reporting System is an interagency
system designed to assist field personnel in managing

and reporting accomplishments for work conducted under the National Fire
Plan. It is a Web- based data collection tool with GIS support that
locates projects and treatments. It consists of three modules* hazardous
fuels reduction, restoration and rehabilitation, and community assistance.
While the agencies are currently using the system, it will not be fully
operational until 2004. Another information system, the Fire Program
Analysis 9 LIDAR sensors measure the reflection of emitted light;
hyperspectral sensors observe data in multiple contiguous channels of the
electromagnetic spectrum. A more detailed discussion of these and other
types of sensors is included in appendix IV.

Page 29 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires system, is an interagency planning
tool for analysis and budgeting to be used by the five federal wildland
fire management agencies.

The first module* preparedness* is scheduled for implementation in
September 2004 and will evaluate the cost- effectiveness of alternative
initial attack operations in meeting multiple fire management objectives.
Additional system modules are expected to provide geospatial capabilities
and to address extended attack, large fires and national fire resources,
hazardous fuels reduction, wildland fire use, and fire prevention.

* Improvements in existing systems. There are multiple efforts planned or
under way to improve existing systems or to add geospatial components to
systems that are currently under development. For example, researchers at
a federal fire sciences laboratory are exploring possible improvements to
the Wildland

Fire Assessment System, an Internet- based system that provides
information on a broad area of national fire potential and weather maps
for fire managers and the general public. Specifically, researchers are
working to develop products that depict moisture levels in live fuels,
which will aid in assessing the potential for wildland fires.

Extent to Which Geospatial Technologies Are Used to Support Wildland Fire
Management Is Not Fully Known While many land management entities are
using geospatial technologies in support of their wildland fire- related
activities, the extent to which geospatial technologies and tools are
being used in support of wildland fire management is not fully known. In
an

effort to get a more accurate picture of how extensively geospatial
information technologies are being used, the Geospatial Task Group, a
subgroup of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group*s (NWCG) IRM working
team, is conducting a survey of wildland fire personnel to determine what
technologies are being used and how

they are being used. Group members stated that this information would help
them to develop interagency standards for equipment and training and would
allow land managers to learn from others* experiences in using some of the
geospatial information technologies. For example, some incident teams use
fire modeling software during active fires, while some land management
offices are using the software in planning prescribed fires. The group
initiated its survey in June 2003 and expects to complete its assessment
by September 2003.

Page 30 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires The Wildland Fire Community Faces
Numerous Challenges in Using Geospatial Information Technologies
Effectively; More

Must Be Done to Address These Challenges There are numerous challenges in
using geospatial information technologies effectively in the wildland fire
community. Key challenges involve data, systems, infrastructure, staffing,
and the effective use of new products and technologies* all complicated by
the fact that wildland fire management extends beyond a single agency*s
responsibility. NWCG has several initiatives under way to address specific
challenges to using geospatial information

technologies. However, progress on these initiatives has been slow, and
the initiatives do not address all of the challenges.

A root cause of many of these challenges is the lack of an overall
strategy guiding interagency management of information resources and
technologies. Currently, different IRM- related teams within NWCG are
planning initiatives to improve the interagency management of information
resources and technology. Focusing

specifically on geospatial technologies, the NWCG*s IRM working team*s
geospatial task group has proposed developing an interagency strategic
plan for using geospatial technologies to support wildland fire
management. Additionally, the IRM working

team has developed a draft IRM strategy to guide information technology
development and use by the interagency fire community. At a broader level,
NWCG*s IRM program management office plans to develop an enterprise
architecture to guide and integrate business operations for wildland fire
management. However, these efforts lack the senior- level endorsement and
the detailed plans and milestones necessary for success. Until effective
interagency management of information technologies becomes a priority, the
wildland fire community will likely continue to face challenges in
effectively using geospatial technologies.

Many Challenges Affect the Usefulness of Geospatial Information
Technologies As the use of geospatial information technologies has become
more common in wildland fire management, the challenges to effectively
using and sharing geospatial information have become more apparent. Key
challenges include the following:

* Data issues. Users of geospatial information have noted problems in
acquiring compatible and comprehensive geospatial data. For

Page 31 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires example, GIS specialists involved in
fighting fires reported that they did not have ready access to the
geospatial data they needed.

They noted that some local jurisdictions have geospatial data, but others
do not. Further, they reported that the data from neighboring
jurisdictions are often incompatible. GIS specialists reported that the
first days at a wildland fire are spent trying to gather the geospatial
information needed to accurately map the

fire. While concerns with data availability and compatibility are often
noted during fire incidents, these issues are also evident before and
after fire incidents. For example, we recently reported that the five land
management agencies did not know how effective

their postfire emergency stabilization and rehabilitation treatments were
because, among other reasons, local land units do not routinely collect
comparable information. 10 As a result of unavailable or incompatible
data, decision makers often lack the

timely, integrated information they need to make sound decisions in
managing different aspects of wildland fire.

On a related note, the development and implementation of data standards is
a well- recognized solution for addressing some of the problems mentioned
above, but there are currently no nationally recognized geospatial data
standards for use on fires. GIS

specialists frequently cited a need for common, interagency geospatial
data standards for use with fires. They noted that the land management
agencies and states do not record information about fires* such as fire
location, fire perimeter, or the date of different fire perimeters* in the
same way.

System issues. In 1996, NWCG reported that there was a duplication of
information systems and computer applications supporting wildland fire
management, noting that agencies were

using 15 different weather- related software applications, 9 logistics
applications, and 7 dispatch applications. 11 Since that time, the number
of applications has grown* as has the potential for duplication of effort.
Duplicative systems not only waste limited funds, but they also make
interoperability between systems more difficult.

This issue is complicated by the fact that there is no single,
comprehensive inventory of information systems and applications that could
be of use to others in the interagency wildland fire 10 U. S. General
Accounting Office, Wildland Fires: Better Information Needed on

Effectiveness of Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation Treatments,
GAO- 03- 430 (Washington, D. C.: Apr. 4, 2003). 11 National Wildfire
Coordinating Group, Information Resource Management Strategy Project:
Wildland Fire Business Model (National Interagency Fire Center: August
1996).

Page 32 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires community. A single comprehensive
inventory would allow the wildland fire community to identify and learn
about available

applications and tools, and to avoid duplicating efforts to develop new
applications. We identified five different inventories of software
applications* including information systems, models, and

tools* that are currently being used in support of wildland fire
management. While these listings are not limited to geospatial
applications, many of the applications have geospatial components. The
most comprehensive listing is an inventory managed by NWCG. This inventory
identifies 199 applications used in support of wildland fire, but even
this inventory is not complete. That is, it did not include 45
applications that were included in the other inventories. Additionally, it
did not include 24 applications that we had identified. Appendix V
provides information on applications with geospatial components.

Infrastructure issues. Many GIS specialists noted that there are problems
in getting equipment, networking capabilities, and Internet access to the
areas that need them during a fire. For example, at a recent fire in a
remote location, these specialists reported that they were unable to
produce needed information and maps because they had problems with
networking capabilities. Again, this issue is critical during a fire, when
incident teams try to set up a command center in a remote location.
However, it is also an issue when federal regional managers try to obtain
consistent information from the different land management agencies* field

offices before or after fires. The majority of local field offices have
equipment to support geospatial information and analysis, but some do not.

Staffing issues. GIS specialists noted that the training and
qualifications of the GIS specialists who support fire incidents is not
consistent. Specifically, officials noted that skills and

qualifications vary widely among those who work with geographic
information systems. For example, some GIS specialists are capable of
interpreting infrared images as well as developing maps, but others are
not. Some have experience working with GIS applications but are not
specifically trained to develop GIS maps for fires. Use of new products.
While many commercial vendors are

developing geospatial products and services that could be of use to the
wildland fire community* including advanced satellite and aerial imaging;
GIS software and equipment; and advanced mapping products, including
analyses, visualization, and modeling* many have expressed concern that
the wildland fire community is not aware of these advancements or has
little

Page 33 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires funding for these products. Land
managers acknowledged the value of many of these products, but noted that
acquiring these

products needs to be driven by business needs. Agency officials also
expressed concern that the cost of these products and services can be
prohibitive and that licensing restrictions could keep them from sharing
the commercial data and products with others in the

wildland fire community. National Wildfire Coordinating Group Has
Initiated Efforts to Address Some Geospatial Challenges, but Progress Has
Been Slow and Not All Challenges Are Being Addressed

Different NWCG teams (including the IRM working team, the IRM program
management office, the IRM working team*s geospatial task group, and the
IRM working team*s data administration working group) are undertaking
efforts to address specific challenges to effectively using information
technologies.

Specifically:

* Focusing on geospatial data issues, NWCG teams are working to share
geospatial data and to define geospatial data standards. To date, an NWCG
team has established an Internet site where geospatial data can be
provided and obtained. NWCG teams have also begun developing data
standards for daily and final fire perimeters with a goal of implementing
these standards across the

land management agencies.

* Recognizing the large number of systems supporting fire management, an
NWCG team is managing the development of five new interagency systems to
replace several similar systems that are currently being used by different
agencies. For example, the team has developed a resource ordering and
status system to replace

four existing systems and is developing an integrated system for tracking
the qualifications of individuals assigned to fire incidents (such as
incident commanders and firefighters), which should replace separate
tracking systems that are currently used by the five land management
agencies. NWCG is also working to improve the inventory of information
systems and applications that are used to support wildland fire
management. This team is seeking validation of the information already in
the inventory and adding new items to the inventory as they become known.

* Focusing on the development of GIS specialists* skills, an ad hoc group
not associated with NWCG developed a training course for GIS technical
specialists who work on fires, to provide them a

Page 34 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires minimum set of qualifications, with
the intent of obtaining a consistent level of GIS skills among the
specialists. An NWCG team is evaluating this training for use throughout
the wildland fire community. Also, this NWCG team has proposed a minimum
set of qualifications for GIS specialists who work on fires. However,
progress on these geospatial initiatives has been slow.

Although these initiatives have been under development for over 14 months,
senior NWCG IRM officials have not yet endorsed proposals for a data
standard on fire perimeters, the GIS specialists* qualifications for
incident support, or the GIS specialists* training. NWCG officials were
unable to estimate when they would evaluate or implement these proposals;
they explained that they have multiple competing priorities.

Further, these initiatives do not address all of the challenges to
effectively using geospatial information technologies. The initiatives do
not address issues associated with infrastructure and the use of new
technologies, and they do not comprehensively address all of the issues
with data, systems, and staffing. For example, other geospatial data
standards are needed to achieve consistency in the geospatial data used to
support wildland fire management.

Effective Interagency IT Management Could Help Address Challenges
Effective interagency IT management could help address the challenges
faced by the wildland fire community in using geospatial information and
technologies. Such an approach could address the implementation and
enforcement of national geospatial data standards for managing wildland
fires, an interagency strategic approach to systems and infrastructure
development, a plan for ensuring consistent equipment and

training throughout the wildland fire community, and a thorough evaluation
of user needs and opportunities for meeting those needs through new
products and technologies.

Acknowledging many of the geospatial and information management
challenges, in September 2002 the National Academy of Public
Administration reported that a national information

technology/ information management framework is needed to guide future
development and deployment of systems and information sources to support
more cost- effective fire

Page 35 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires suppression. 12 Such a framework
would provide an architecture for systems, applications, data, and
networks, based on user- identified needs. The academy recommended that
the agencies involved work together under the guidance of the Wildland
Fire Leadership Council to describe what the desired system and data
sources

should accomplish in fire management and how individual components and
data sources can become functioning parts of the overall system. The
academy also recommended that the framework provide uniform data policies
and standards to ensure the interoperability needed among federal, state,
and local systems

to maximize the utility and maintenance of available geographic
information. National Wildfire Coordinating Group Plans to Improve
Interagency IT Management, but Efforts Lack Senior- Level Endorsement and
Detailed Plans and Milestones Three different teams within NWCG are
planning initiatives to improve the interagency management of geospatial
information

and information resources and technology. However, these initiatives lack
the senior- level endorsement and detailed plans and milestones necessary
for success.

Focusing specifically on geospatial technologies, the Geospatial Task
Group (a subgroup of NWCG*s IRM working team) has proposed developing an
interagency strategic plan for using geospatial technologies to support
wildland fire management.

Officials proposed that this geospatial strategic plan would evaluate the
use of technologies in support of the wildland fire mission, assess the
need for these technologies, explore

opportunities to improve these technologies, and contribute to developing
an interagency geospatial infrastructure. However, NWCG has not approved
funding for this initiative, and as a result, there is as yet no schedule
for developing this geospatial strategic plan. Focusing on IRM management,
NWCG*s IRM working team developed a draft IRM strategy to help guide
information technology development and use by the interagency fire

community. However, this plan has been in draft form since March 2002, and
officials could not estimate when it would be finalized. Further, the
draft plan includes high- level objectives, but does not 12 Frank
Fairbanks, Elizabeth Hill, Patrick Kelly, Lyle Laverty, Keith F.
Mulrooney, Charlie Philpot, and Charles Wise, Wildfire Suppression:
Strategies for Containing Costs (Washington, D. C.: National Academy of
Public Administration, September 2002).

Page 36 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires include detailed action items or
schedules for accomplishing these objectives. For example, the draft IRM
strategy lists objectives such

as leveraging existing technologies, incorporating emerging technologies,
and developing and obtaining a workforce that is fully trained and skilled
in the use of IRM applications. However, the plan does not identify any
activities or schedules for accomplishing these objectives. At a broader
level, NWCG*s IRM program management office plans

to develop an interagency enterprise architecture to guide and integrate
business operations for wildland fire management. According to federal
guidance on developing enterprise architectures, one of the most important
initial steps is to obtain and demonstrate senior- level support for the
architecture effort. 13 Another critical element is to demonstrate a clear
plan, or roadmap, for developing the architecture. Such a plan would

include critical steps, deliverables, and estimated time frames for the
deliverables. Critical activities in the plan would include a description
of the current IT environment (hardware, software, data, communications);
an assessment of user needs and technological opportunities for meeting
those needs; a target environment; and a transition plan to get to the
target environment. Finally, for an enterprise architecture to be
effective, it needs to be tied to investment processes and controls. That
way, decision makers can ensure that new investments in technology are
consistent with the target environment.

NWCG*s IRM program management office is beginning to work on an
interagency enterprise architecture. To date, the office has established a
goal of developing an enterprise architecture for the interagency wildland
fire community and has designated an IRM program manager, data architect,
and applications architect to help build it. Further, the data and
applications architects expect to be certified in the development of
federal enterprise architectures by October 2003.

However, the planned interagency enterprise architecture lacks senior-
level support, detailed plans and milestones, and a link to investment
control processes. The Wildland Fire Leadership Council was established in
April 2002 to provide senior- level

leadership in the wildland fire community. However, the Leadership Council
has not formally endorsed NWCG*s interagency enterprise architecture
effort. Without this senior- level support, the

13 Chief Information Officer Council, A Practical Guide to Federal
Enterprise Architecture,

Version 1.0 (February 2001).

Page 37 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires interagency wildland fire community
runs the risk that its components will continue to invest in duplicative
*stovepiped* systems and will perpetuate the existing situation of limited

interoperability and unnecessarily costly operations. Additionally,
although the IRM program management office has established the goal of
developing an enterprise architecture, it has not yet defined exactly what
it will deliver and by when. NWCG

officials could not provide estimates for when they would develop a
thorough understanding of the current *as is* interagency environment,
identify user needs and technological opportunities for meeting those
needs, identify a target architecture, or complete a plan for
transitioning to that target architecture. NWCG officials explained that
*to successfully implement anything across two departments, five federal
agencies, and 50 states is difficult and takes years of planning and
preparation.* Further, once it is developed, it is not clear how this
enterprise architecture would be linked to the interagency geospatial
strategic plan, the interagency IRM strategy, or the different agencies*
investment control processes. Given the complexity of interagency wildland
fire operations, it is clear that effectively managing IT (including
geospatial IT) in support of the wildland fire mission is a challenging
task. However,

it is also clear that without senior- level endorsement and clear plans
for achieving results, efforts to address geospatial IT challenges and to
improve IT management may never be successful. Until effective management
of information resources and technology in support of the wildland fire
mission becomes a management priority, the wildland fire community will
likely continue to face significant challenges in effectively using
geospatial technologies.

New National Efforts to Improve the Use of Geospatial Information Are
Promising, but Challenges to Effective Data Sharing Remain

Effectively using geospatial information is of interest beyond the
wildland fire management community. Detailed, accurate, and accessible
geospatial information is critical in addressing homeland security and
national preparedness, supporting our transportation infrastructure,
managing natural resources, and performing the

Page 38 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires national census* among other
activities* and the federal government has long recognized problems in
duplicative

collections of geospatial data. We recently reported that the federal
government has tried for years to reduce duplicative geospatial data
collection by coordinating geospatial activities both within and outside
the

federal government. 14 In 1953, the Bureau of the Budget first issued its
Circular A- 16, encouraging expeditious surveying and mapping activities
across all levels of government and avoidance of duplicative efforts. In
1990, the Office of Management and Budget

revised this circular to establish a Federal Geographic Data Committee
(FGDC), chaired by the Department of the Interior, to promote coordinated
use, sharing, and dissemination of geospatial data nationwide. In 1994, an
executive order called for coordinating geographic data acquisition and
access through a National Spatial Data Infrastructure. 15 The order
defined this infrastructure as the

technology, policies, standards, and human resources necessary to acquire,
process, store, distribute, and improve the utilization of geospatial
data. In 2002, the Office of Management and Budget

issued revised guidance for agencies that create, use, or store geospatial
data and established a coordinated approach to the National Spatial Data
Infrastructure. 16 Additionally, the E- Government Act of 2002 called for
common protocols for GIS in order to reduce redundant data collection and
information, and to promote collaboration and use of standards for
government geographic information. 17 Most recently, the Office of
Management

and Budget issued guidance on implementing the act. 18 Various efforts are
now under way to implement this guidance and legislation. Under the
framework of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, the FGDC
coordinates efforts to develop national standards for geospatial data,
develop a national framework for sharing geospatial data collections, and
establish a portal on the

Internet* called the Geospatial One- Stop initiative* for accessing
geospatial information.

14 U. S. General Accounting Office, Geographic Information Systems:
Challenges to Effective Data Sharing, GAO- 03- 874T (Washington, D. C.:
June 10, 2003). 15 Executive Order 12906, Coordination of Geographic Data
Acquisition and Access: The

National Spatial Data Infrastructure (Apr. 13, 1994). 16 Office of
Management and Budget, Coordination of Geographic Information and Related
Spatial Data Activities, Circular A- 16 Revised (Washington, D. C.: Aug.
19, 2002). The Circular applies to any agency that collects, produces,
acquires, maintains, distributes, uses, or preserves paper maps or digital
geospatial data to fulfill its mission. 17 Sec. 216, P. L. 107- 347,
December 17, 2002.

18 Office of Management and Budget Memorandum, "Implementation Guidance
for the E- Government Act of 2002," M- 03- 18 (Aug. 1, 2003).

Page 39 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires The status of these efforts follows.

* Geospatial Data Standards. FGDC is developing standards for data
documentation, collection, and exchange so that data can be shared across
state and local boundaries on many different hardware platforms and with
many different software programs. To date,

FGDC has established 20 different standards, including standards for
classifying vegetation and for documenting information about the collected
data, called metadata.

* National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse. The clearinghouse is a
decentralized system of Internet servers that contain field- level
descriptions or metadata of available digital geospatial data. The
clearinghouse allows individual agencies, consortia, and geographically
defined communities to coordinate and promote the use of their available
geospatial data. Currently, the FGDC Clearinghouse server connects to over
250 nodes around the world.

* Geospatial One- Stop. One of 25 high- profile Office of Management and
Budget- sponsored e- government initiatives, this project builds upon the
data clearinghouse to develop an Internet portal for onestop

access to geospatial data. This effort is expected to develop national
geospatial data standards, increase the inventory of data holdings, and
encourage greater coordination among federal, state, and local agencies
about existing and planned geospatial projects. The Department of the
Interior expects to complete this initiative in early 2004.

While these initiatives hold promise, much remains to be done to achieve
effective sharing of geospatial data. We recently reported that progress
has been made on these initiatives, but that achieving the goals of the
National Spatial Data Infrastructure remains a formidable challenge. 19
Despite a series of mandates and directives over many years requiring the
use of standards and cooperation

among federal agencies and other entities, not all governmental entities
are fully cooperating on a nationwide basis. As a result, significant
geographic data standardization and data sharing have not been realized.
We also noted that a much more substantial effort will be required to
attain the vision of seamless integration of GIS data nationwide.
Specifically, existing draft standards may

need further revision, and more extensive coordination efforts may be
required to ensure broad adoption of the standards at all levels of
government. Further, attaining this goal is likely to require a continuing
effort over an extended period of time. Clearly, 19 GAO- 03- 874T.

Page 40 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires compliance with the mandate of the E-
Government Act will advance the goal of obtaining standardized geographic
data.

Although these national efforts are not at the level of detail that the
wildland fire community needs for fire- related geospatial data standards,
it will be important that the efforts are coordinated. As the interagency
wildland fire community moves forward with its plans to develop an overall
strategy for geospatial information technology and data standards, it will
be important to incorporate national data standards, to participate in
national initiatives such as the Geospatial One- Stop, and to comply with
the purpose and

requirements of the E- Government Act. Conclusions

The federal wildland fire management community is using a variety of
different geospatial technologies for such activities as identifying
dangerous fuels, assessing fire risks, detecting and fighting fires, and
restoring fire- damaged lands. These technologies run the gamut from
satellite and aerial imaging, to the Global Positioning System, to
geographic information systems, to specialized fire models.

Local land managers and incident teams often acquire, collect, and develop
geospatial information and technologies to meet their specific needs,
resulting in a hodgepodge of incompatible and

duplicative data and tools. This problem is echoed throughout the fire
community: Those who work with different aspects of fire management
commonly cite concerns with unavailable or incompatible geospatial data,
duplicative systems, lack of equipment and infrastructure to access
geospatial information,

inconsistency in the training of GIS specialists, and ineffective use of
new products and technologies. These challenges illustrate the need for a
new, integrated, strategic approach to managing information systems and
data in the wildland fire community. Different teams within the National
Wildfire Coordinating Group have proposed developing an interagency
geospatial strategy to help define and plan how to address geospatial
challenges, drafted

an interagency IRM strategy to identify high- level goals, and proposed
developing an interagency enterprise architecture to more effectively
manage information resources and technology.

However, the plan to develop a geospatial strategy has not been approved,
and the draft IRM strategy lacks detailed activities and schedules for
accomplishing key objectives. Further, the NWCG

Page 41 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires team responsible for developing the
architecture has not yet begun the effort, and the initiative lacks the
senior management

endorsement, the detailed plans and schedules, and the link to an
investment control process that are critical to any architecture*s
success.

Looking beyond the wildland fire community, effective use of geospatial
information is a national priority. The federal government has been
working for years to use geospatial data more effectively and efficiently.
New initiatives to develop nationwide standards, a geospatial data
clearinghouse, and an Internet portal for accessing geospatial data
holdings offer much promise. However, significant challenges remain. It
will be important, as NWCG moves forward with its efforts to develop an
interagency geospatial strategy, an interagency IRM strategy, and

an interagency enterprise architecture, that these efforts comply with the
requirements of the E- Government Act and incorporate national standards
for geospatial data.

Recommendations In order to better manage the use of geospatial
information in support of wildland fire management, we recommend that the
Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior direct the Wildland Fire
Leadership Council to endorse and oversee the National Wildfire
Coordinating Group*s efforts to develop an interagency geospatial strategy
for effectively using geospatial information technologies in all phases of
wildland fire management. We also recommend that

this geospatial strategy

* address challenges to effectively using geospatial technologies,
including issues associated with data, systems, infrastructure, staffing,
and the use of new products;

* establish deliverables and milestones for completing key initiatives;
and

* be incorporated in interagency efforts to improve IT management,
including the interagency IRM strategy and the interagency enterprise
architecture effort. In order to ensure effective interagency IT
management, we recommend that the Secretaries of Agriculture and the
Interior immediately endorse development of an interagency IRM strategy

Page 42 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires and an enterprise architecture for
wildland fire management. Further, we recommend that the Secretaries
ensure senior- level oversight by directing the Wildland Fire Leadership
Council to oversee the National Wildfire Coordinating Group*s efforts to *
establish detailed plans and schedules for implementing the interagency
IRM strategy for wildland fire management;

* establish a detailed plan for developing the interagency enterprise
architecture for wildland fire management, and ensure that it includes
clear interim steps and implementation milestones; * ensure that the
interagency geospatial strategic plan and the

interagency IRM strategy are integrated with the enterprise architecture
for wildland fire management;

* establish a link between the architecture and the investment control
processes at the land management agencies; and

* ensure that the architecture incorporates E- Government Act requirements
and national standards for geospatial data.

Agency Comments We provided a draft of this report to the Secretaries of
Agriculture and the Interior for review and comment. The departments
provided a consolidated, written response to our draft report, signed by
the Under Secretary, Natural Resources and the Environment, Department of
Agriculture, and the Assistant Secretary, Policy, Management and Budget,
Department of the Interior. The departments* response is included in
appendix VI of this report. The departments agreed with the report*s
conclusions

and recommendations, and noted that developing an interagency IRM strategy
and interagency enterprise architecture is an ambitious undertaking. They
stated that it makes sense to incorporate our recommendations into ongoing
agency and departmental e- government enterprise architecture strategies,
and that doing so will enable them to modernize various lines of business
in manageable components. The departments also stated that as a result of
these initiatives, the agencies will gain

incremental integration of information and shared use of information
technology, but noted that these improvements will be both time and
resource intensive.

Page 43 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires The departments commented that our
findings will be discussed by the Wildland Fire Leadership Council at
their October 2003 meeting and that, based on that discussion and
direction provided by the

Council, staff from the two departments will be tasked with developing an
action plan to address our findings and the broader issue of geospatial
needs for wildland fire management. The departments also stated that the
recommendations we provided will help the departments move forward to
establish a better coordinated, interagency architecture for geospatial
wildland fire management information requirements. The departments also
provided technical corrections, which we have incorporated as

appropriate. We are sending notification of this report to the Chairman
and Ranking Minority Members of the Subcommittee on Public Lands and
Forests, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; the
Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, House Committee on Resources;
and other interested congressional committees. We will also send
notification of this report to the Secretary of Agriculture; the Secretary
of the Interior; the Chief of the Forest

Service; the Directors of the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park
Service, and the Fish and Wildlife Service; the Deputy Commissioner,
Bureau of Indian Affairs; the Director, Office of Management and Budget;
and other interested parties. In addition,

this report will be available at no charge on GAO*s Web site at www. gao.
gov.

If you have any questions on matters discussed in this report, please
contact me at (202) 512- 9286 or Colleen Phillips, Assistant Director, at
(202) 512- 6326. We can also be reached by E- mail at pownerd@ gao. gov
and phillipsc@ gao. gov, respectively. Other contacts and key contributors
to this report are listed in appendix VII. David A. Powner Director
(Acting), Information Technology

Management Issues

Page 44 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and
Methodology Our objectives were to (1) identify key geospatial information

technologies for addressing different aspects of wildland fire management;
(2) summarize key challenges to the effective use of geospatial
technologies in wildland fire management; and

(3) identify national opportunities to improve the effective use of
geospatial technologies. To accomplish these objectives, we focused our
review on five key federal agencies that are responsible for wildland fire
management on public lands: the Department of Agriculture*s Forest Service
and the Department of the Interior*s National Park Service, Bureau of Land
Management,

Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs. To address the
final objective, we also reviewed national efforts to improve the use of
geospatial information by the Office of Management and Budget and the
Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC).

To identify key geospatial information technologies for addressing
different aspects of wildland fire management, we assessed policies,
plans, and reports on wildland fire management and

technical documents on geospatial technologies. We assessed information on
Forest Service and Interior efforts to develop and use geospatial
technologies. We also interviewed officials with the Forest Service and
the Interior, interagency organizations, commercial vendors, and selected
states to determine the characteristics and uses of different geospatial
technologies in supporting different phases of wildland fire management.
In addition, we met with officials of other federal agencies, including

the Department of the Interior*s U. S. Geological Survey, the Department
of Defense*s National Imagery and Mapping Agency, the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration, the Department of Commerce*s National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Homeland Security*s
Federal Emergency Management Agency, to identify their efforts to

develop geospatial information products in support of wildland fire
management. To compile a list of geospatial applications used in support
of wildland fire management, we identified five inventories of software
models, applications, and tools used to support wildland

fire activities. We combined the five inventories to compile a more
complete list of applications, and we added geospatial applications

Page 45 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires that were not on any of the
inventories. We learned about these other applications through discussions
with agency officials and by searching Forest Service and Interior Web
sites. Additionally, Forest

Service and Interior officials provided input on which applications have
geospatial components and provided supporting information where it was
available. We did not validate the accuracy of the information in the five
separate inventories. To summarize key challenges to the effective use and
sharing of geospatial technologies, we reviewed key reports and studies on

these challenges. These include the following: Burchfield, James A.,
Theron A. Miller, Lloyd Queen, Joe Frost, Dorothy Albright, and David
DelSordo. Investigation of Geospatial Support of Incident Management.
National Center for Landscape

Fire Analysis at the University of Montana. November 25, 2002. Committee
on Earth Observation Satellites, Disaster Management Support Group. The
Use of Earth Observing Satellites for Hazard Support: Assessments &
Scenarios. National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration, n. d. Department of Agriculture (Forest
Service) and Department of Interior. Developing an Interagency, Landscape-
scale Fire Planning Analysis and Budget Tool. n. d. [December 2001].
Fairbanks, Frank, Elizabeth Hill, Patrick Kelly, Lyle Laverty, Keith F.
Mulrooney, Charlie Philpot, and Charles Wise. Wildfire Suppression:
Strategies for Containing Costs. Washington, D. C.: National Academy of
Public Administration, September 2002.

Fairbanks, Frank, Henry Gardner, Elizabeth Hill, Keith Mulrooney, Charles
Philpot, Karl Weick, and Charles Wise. Managing Wildland Fire: Enhancing
Capacity to Implement the Federal Interagency Policy. Washington, D. C.:
National Academy of Public Administration, December 2001.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Wildland Fire Management:
Some Information Needs and Opportunities. Working paper, National Hazards
Information Strategy, July 2002.

National Wildfire Coordinating Group. Information Resource Management
Strategy Project: Wildland Fire Business Model. National Interagency Fire
Center. August 1996.

Page 46 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires National Wildfire Coordinating Group,
Information Resource Management Working Team, Geospatial Task Group.
Geospatial Technology for Incident Support: A White Paper. April 12, 2002.

We also interviewed federal officials from interagency wildland fire
groups, including the national fire directors, the National Wildfire
Coordinating Group*s (NWCG) Information Resource Management (IRM) working
team, NWCG*s IRM program management office, the IRM working team*s
geospatial task group, and the Wildland Fire

Leadership Council to discuss challenges and ongoing efforts to address
these challenges. In addition, we reviewed postfire reports on the Hayman,
Biscuit, and Cerro Grande fires to identify how geospatial technologies
were used on these fires and to evaluate any challenges the incident teams
may have encountered in using these technologies. We attended federal and
commercial conferences on geospatial information technologies, interviewed
representatives from selected states and commercial vendors, and observed
group discussions on challenges in effectively using these technologies
and plans for addressing them.

To identify national opportunities to improve the effective use of
geospatial technologies to address wildland fire management, we identified
key national efforts to set geospatial data standards, to reduce
duplication of effort, and to increase collaboration among the federal
government, states, and private entities. Specifically, we evaluated the
history of legislation and guidance from the Office of Management and
Budget on geospatial information, and identified

the status and plans of efforts under the National Spatial Data
Infrastructure, including FGDC*s efforts to develop geospatial data
standards, a data clearinghouse, and an Internet portal (called Geospatial
One- Stop). We discussed the status of these initiatives with the Office
of Management and Budget and committee officials. We also reviewed the
land management agencies* progress in implementing and enforcing key
elements of these national efforts by assessing the FGDC progress reports
and by determining the

status of the agencies* efforts to adopt geospatial data policies. We
conducted our review at the federal agencies* headquarters in Washington,
D. C.; the Forest Service*s Remote Sensing Applications Center and
Geospatial Service and Technology Center in Salt Lake City, Utah; the U.
S. Geological Survey*s Rocky Mountain Mapping Center in Denver, Colorado;
the U. S. Geological Survey*s Earth

Resources Observation Systems Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota;
the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho; and the Forest
Service*s Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory in
Missoula, Montana. We conducted our work between

Page 47 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires October 2002 and September 2003 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

Page 48 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Appendix II: Major Wildland Fire
Policies, Plans, Reports, and Initiatives

The following table provides a chronology of the policies, plans, reports,
and initiatives that form the national approach to wildland fire
management over the past decade. Document or initiative What it does

Relationship to other initiatives

Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy and Program Review, December 1995

This policy responded to the tragic fires of 1994. Among other things, the
report

* reaffirms the protection of life as the first priority,

* recognizes wildland fire as a critical natural process, * requires that
fire management plans be developed for all burnable acres,

* requires that fire management decisions be consistent with approved land
and resource management plans, * requires that agency administrators
conside r a full range of

fire management actions, and

* clarifies the role of federal agencies in the wildland- urban interface.
Provides the overarching fire

policy framework for the Department of Agriculture*s Forest Service (FS)
and the Department of the Interior*s National Park Service (NPS),

Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and
Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

A Report to the President: Managing the Impact of Wildfires on Communities
and the Environment, September 2000

Web site: www. fireplan. gov/ content /reports/ This report was developed
in response to a Presidential request. It provides recommendations to the
Departments of Agriculture

and the Interior on how best to respond to the severe fire season of 2000.
Among other key recommendations, the report recommends

that the departments

* provide additional firefighting resources;

* restore damaged landscapes and communities;

* increase investment to reduce fire risk (emphasis on multijurisdictional
efforts that give better landscape protection);

* work directly with local communities that are at risk, to improve
community fire- fighting capacity and coordination, implement restoration
and fuel reduction projects, and

expand education and risk mitigation efforts in the wildland urban
interface; and

* establish accountability. Provides the basis and conceptual framework
for the

National Fire Plan and the 10- Year Comprehensive

Strategy.

Page 49 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Document or initiative What it does
Relationship to

other initiatives

The National Fire Plan Initiative, October 2000 This initiative is a long-
term, multifaceted program designed to manage the impacts of wildland fire
on communities and

ecosystems and to reduce wildfire risk. It encompasses the Departments of
Agriculture (FS) and the Interior (NPS, FWS, BIA, BLM). The program
focuses on

* improving fire preparedness, * restoring and rehabilitating burned
areas, * reducing hazardous fuels,

* assisting communities, and

* accountability. Implements the

recommendations in the Report to the President through the Departments of
Agriculture and the Interior, with increased funding

provided by Congress.

Protecting People and Sustaining Resources in Fire- Adapted Ecosystems: A
Cohesive Strategy,

October 2000 This strategy is the Forest Service*s response to GAO report
RCED- 99- 65, a which found that fuel buildup was a major problem in the
interior west and recommended that the Forest

Service develop a cohesive strategy for reducing fuel buildup. The
strategy establishes a framework to restore and maintain the health of
fire- adapted ecosystems on National Forest System lands. It focuses
treatments in *short- interval* fire- adapted ecosystems* ecosystems where
frequent lower- intensity ground fires historically occurred and were a
powerful force in shaping the makeup and structure of vegetative
communities. The strategy identifies as priority areas for treatment

* wildland urban interface,

* municipal watersheds,

* threatened and endangered species habitats, and

* the maintenance of low risk Condition Class I areas. Identifies
priorities and focus for

hazardous fuel treatments on national forest system lands, as called for
in the National Fire Policy and the 10- year Comprehensive Strategy.
Review and Update of the 1995 Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy,

January 2001 Web site: www. nifc. gov/ fire_ policy/ index. htm This
policy

* reviews the status of 1995 Fire Policy implementation and provides
recommendations for full implementation,

* addresses specific issues raised in the Cerro Grande Prescribed Fire
Investigation report,

* recommends creating a senior level interagency mechanism to oversee fire
policy implementation, * recommends a series of strategic implementation
actions that

are essential for wildland fire management, and * recommends establishing
a new mechanism for ensuring coordinated implementation of the policy.

Reaffirms the relevance of the 1995 Federal Fire Policy; provides a
contemporary and

comprehensive interagency federal fire management

policy to support long- term implementation of the National Fire Plan and
the 10- year Comprehensive

Strategy. A Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to
Communities and

the Environment: 10- year Comprehensive Strategy, August 2001 Web site:

www. fireplan. gov/ content /reports/ This coordinated 10- year strategy
to comprehensively manage

wildfire, hazardous fuels, and ecosystem restoration was developed in
collaboration with governors and in consultation with a broad range of
stakeholders. Its scope includes federal and adjacent state, tribal, and
private lands. Its primary goals

are to

* improve fire prevention and suppression, * reduce hazardous fuels,

* restore fire- adapted ecosystems, and

* promote community assistance. The core principles of the strategy are
collaboration, priority setting, and accountability.

Extends the concepts of the Report to the President and focus of the
National Fire Plan into a broader, longer- term, collaborative effort.

Page 50 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Document or initiative What it does
Relationship to

other initiatives

A Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities
and

the Environment: 10- year Comprehensive Strategy Implementation Plan, May
2002 Web site: www. fireplan. gov/ content /reports/ The plan identifies
22 specific tasks supporting four goals

identified in the 10- year Comprehensive Strategy and performance measures
that are interagency and interdepartmental in scope. It was developed in
collaboration with governors and in consultation with a broad range of
stakeholders. It emphasizes a collaborative, community- based approach to
address issues related to wildland fires. Translates the

conceptual framework of the 10- year Comprehensive Strategy into specific
actions, identifying

time frames for completion.

Healthy Forests: An Initiative for Wildfire Prevention and Stronger
Communities, August 2002 Web site: www. whitehouse. gov/ infocus/
healthyforests/ toc. html This presidential initiative is to better
protect people and natural

resources by lowering the procedural and process hurdles that impede the
reduction of hazardous fuels on public land, and to fulfill the original
objectives of the Northwest Forest Plan. The initiative has legislative
and administrative components.

The administration will propose to (1) facilitate timely reviews of high
priority forest health restoration and rehabilitation projects, consistent
with agency procedures and land and resource management plans; (2) amend
rules for project appeals to hasten the process of reviewing vital forest
health projects while encouraging meaningful public participation; (3)
improve the Endangered Species Act process to expedite decisions to allow

timely completion of fuels treatment projects while providing protection
for wildlife and restoring habitat; and (4) establish improved and more
focused process for environmental assessments of forest health projects.
All these actions will make it easier for land managers to restore forest
and rangeland

health, while also engaging communities early, frequently, and in a
meaningful way in these decisions. These changes will bring about more
timely actions to restore forest and rangeland health. The initiative
emphasizes using collaborative processes in identifying projects and
priorities. In facilitating fuels

reduction projects, the healthy forest initiative would speed
implementation of projects, improving implementation of the National Fire
Plan

and the 10- year Comprehensive Strategy. It is a legislative proposal that
requires the use

of a collaborative process consistent with the

Implementation Plan

for the 10- year Comprehensive

Strategy.

Memorandum of Understanding for the Development of a Collaborative Fuels
Treatment Program among the Department of Agriculture (FS), the Department
of the Interior (BLM, FWS, and NPS), the

National Association of State Foresters, and the National Association of
Counties January 2003 Web site: www. fireplan. gov/ content /reports/ The
memorandum provides the framework of a process for the

federal land management agencies, the National Association of State
Foresters, and the National Association of Counties to collaborate on the
annual selection of a fuels treatment program within their respective
jurisdictions, in order to provide for community protection and enhance
the health of forests and rangelands. Concentration on high priority areas
will be facilitated by

* collaborating by notification and discussion of an annual program of
work for fuels treatment,

* completing a proposed program of work by May 1 of each year,

* placing priority on treating acres within states that are actively
incorporating projects into a joint program of work, * taking into account
multiyear landscape- level projects across

ownerships, and * considering long- term investments and sequencing of
projects and building on prior year programs to ensure that projects are
strategically located and implemented across landscapes.

Consistent with the goals, performance standards, and collaborative
framework outlined

in the 10- Year Comprehensive Strategy and

Implementation Plan.

Page 51 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Document or initiative What it does
Relationship to

other initiatives

Protecting People and Natural Resources: A Cohesive Fuel Treatment
Strategy (Draft) February 2003 The strategy outlines a coordinated
approach to fuels treatment

to be adopted by the five major federal land management agencies in the
Departments of Agriculture and the Interior. The strategy provides
considerations for local prioritization in project planning to ensure that
areas that present the greatest

risk to communities and cultural, historical, and natural resources
receive the highest priority for funding. These considerations include *
quality interagency planning,

* evidence of active community participation, and * development of
partnerships and other collaborative efforts with stakeholders. It also
explains and clarifies the common goals of fuel treatments. It

* reiterates the mission of the fuels treatment program, * clarifies
priorities for selecting projects, and * spells out the strategy for
reducing the risk of wildland fire. Emphasizes goals

two and three in the

Implementation Plan for the 10- year Comprehensive Strategy. Uses
performance

measures outlined in the 10- year Comprehensive Strategy to measure
success.

2001 Fire Policy Implementation Plan (in development) This implementation
plan will develop a common code for fire

management organizations within the five major federal land management
agencies in the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior. It is to
ensure unified implementation of the 2001 Fire Policy. Provides uniform

implementation of federal fire policy to enable effective collaboration
with states, tribes, and

communities in implementing the

National Fire Plan,

the 10- year Comprehensive Strategy, and the Interagency

Cohesive Treatment Strategy.

Sources: Department of the Interior, Department of Agriculture. a U. S.
General Accounting Office, Western National Forests: A Cohesive Strategy
Is Needed to Address Catastrophic Wildfire Threats, GAO/ RCED- 99- 65
(Washington, D. C.: Apr. 2, 1999).

Page 52 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Appendix III: Federal, State, and
Local Entities with Land Management, Technology, or Other Fire- Related
Roles

Under the National Fire Plan, five federal land management agencies lead
the efforts to develop wildland fire policies and initiatives. However,
many other federal agencies and nonfederal associations also have a role
in wildland fire management. The federal entities include agencies that
manage other federal lands; agencies that research, manage, or use
technologies that can aid in wildland fire management; and agencies with
other fire- related responsibilities. The nonfederal entities include key
state, local, and international organizations, which collaborate with the
federal agencies on wildland fire management. Key federal, state, and
local organizations and their roles in wildland fire management are
identified below.

Federal Departments and Agencies Five federal agencies have key
responsibilities for managing more than 90 percent of all federal lands.
20 * The Department of Agriculture*s Forest Service manages 191

million acres of national forests and grasslands; its mission is to
sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of these areas to meet the
needs of present and future generations.

* The Department of the Interior*s Bureau of Land Management manages 261
million acres of public domain lands. Its mission is to sustain the
health, diversity, and productivity of these public lands

for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. Most of the
land managed by Bureau of Land Management is located west of the
Mississippi.

* The Department of the Interior*s Bureau of Indian Affairs administers
and manages 56 million acres of land that is held in trust by the United
States for American Indians, Indian tribes, and Alaska natives. Its
mission includes developing forestlands, leasing assets on these lands,
directing agricultural programs, protecting 20 Several of these agencies
also provide scientific research, technology, and products in support of
the land management missions.

Page 53 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires water and land rights, developing and
maintaining infrastructure, providing for health, human services, and
economic development.

* The Department of the Interior*s Fish and Wildlife Service manages 93
million acres of national wildlife refuges and wetland areas. Its mission
is to work with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife,
and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American
people.

* The Department of the Interior*s National Park Service administers over
80 million acres of national parks, monuments, historic sites, natural
areas, and other federal lands. Its mission is to preserve the natural and
cultural resources and values of the national park system for the
enjoyment, education, and inspiration of present and future generations.

In addition to the five federal land management agencies, three other
federal departments manage extensive tracts of federal land.

* The Department of Defense manages about 38 million acres at bases and
installations around the country and has fire management responsibility
for these lands.

* The Bureau of Reclamation manages about 9 million acres of land.

* The Department of Energy manages about 2.4 million acres of land. Other
federal entities research, manage, or use technologies that can aid in
wildland fire management.

* The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, through its Earth
Science Enterprise research and development efforts, partners with federal
agencies with fire management responsibilities to provide satellite remote
sensing images and other science and data products.

* The Department of Commerce*s National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration operates satellites, manages the daily processing and
distribution of data and images produced by these satellites; conducts
research, develops innovative technologies and observation systems, and
prepares weather and fire weather forecasts* all of which provide useful
information to fire

management officials who plan and manage wildland fires. * The Department
of Defense*s National Imagery and Mapping Agency provides imagery and
geospatial information in support of the national security objectives of
the United States. At the request

Page 54 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires of the National Interagency Fire
Center, through the Forest Service, the agency uses multiple sources of
imagery and geospatial data to provide map products to assist the fire
community with fire suppression efforts. * The Department of the
Interior*s U. S. Geological Survey contributes

to wildland fire management by conducting fire- related research to meet
the varied needs of the fire management community and to understand the
role of fire in the landscape. This research includes fire management
support, studies of postfire effects, and a wide range of studies on fire
history and ecology. In addition, the U. S. Geological Survey supports the
wildland fire community by providing earth science information through (1)
receipt and

archiving of remotely sensed land data and (2) geographical scientific
information that describes and interprets the nation*s landscape. Other
federal entities also have fire- related responsibilities.

* The Department of Homeland Security*s Federal Emergency Management
Agency, the lead agency for emergency management in the federal
government, provides financial assistance for the

mitigation, management, and control of fires burning on publicly or
privately owned forests or grasslands. The agency also provides maps of
geologic and flood hazards to support fire management.

* The Environmental Protection Agency develops and enforces regulations
regarding the environment, including the effects of wildland fire on air
quality.

State, Local, and Other Associations and Committees Many state, local,
international, and private organizations participate in wildland fire
management. * The National Association of State Foresters, the largest
nonfederal

firefighting partner, is a nonprofit organization that represents the
directors of the state forestry agencies from all 50 states, 8 U. S.
territories, and the District of Columbia. The state foresters provide
management assistance and protection services for over two- thirds of the
nation*s forests. The association is a member of both the National
Wildfire Coordinating Group and the Wildland Fire Leadership Council.

Page 55 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires * The Intertribal Timber Council is a
nationwide consortium of Indian Tribes, Alaska Native Corporations, and
individuals

dedicated to improving the management of natural resources of importance
to Native American communities. The Council is a member of both the
National Wildfire Coordinating Group and the Wildland Fire Leadership
Council.

* The National Fire Protection Association*s mission is to reduce the
worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by
providing and advocating scientifically based consensus codes and
standards, research, training, and education. The association*s membership
totals more than 75, 000 individuals from around the

world and more than 80 national trade and professional organizations.

* The Fire Control Officers Group is an umbrella organization consisting
of fire control officers from the forest fire management agencies in all
Australian states and New Zealand, with additional representation from
industry, research, and education. The group develops and maintains
international relationships with fire

management agencies in the United States.

* The National Governors* Association deals with issues of public policy
and governance relating to the states. The association*s ongoing mission
is to support the work of the governors by providing a bipartisan forum to
help shape and implement national policy and to solve state problems.

* The National Association of Counties seeks to represent the nation*s
3,066 counties; its membership totals more than 2,000 counties,
representing over 80 percent of the nation*s population. As a member of
the Wildland Fire Leadership Council and in working with the National
Association of State Foresters, the association is a lead collaborator on
such wildland fire issues as (1) assessing the training, equipment, and
safety awareness of and services provided by rural, volunteer, and other
firefighters who work in the wildland urban interface and (2) annually
selecting fuel treatment and ecosystem restoration projects within
jurisdictions.

* The Western Governors* Association, composed of the governors of 18
states and 3 islands in the Pacific, addresses important policy and
governance issues in the West* in particular wildland fire issues, because
of the prevalence and severity of fires and

grassland fires in these states.

Page 56 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires * The International Association of
Fire Chiefs is a network of more than 12,000 chief fire and emergency
officers. The association*s mission is to provide leadership to chief fire
officers and managers of emergency services organizations. The
International Association of Fire Chiefs also prepares awareness and
training information on

the use of minimum impact suppression activities.

* The National Volunteer Fire Council, a nonprofit membership association,
represents the interest of the volunteer fire, emergency medical, and
rescue services.

* The International Association of Wildland Fire is a nonprofit,
professional association representing members of the global wildland fire
community. The purpose of the association is to facilitate communication
and provide leadership for the wildland fire community.

* The Nature Conservancy*s mission is to preserve the plants, animals, and
natural communities that represent the diversity of life on earth by
protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. One of the Nature
Conservancy's five priority conservation initiatives is to play a leading
role in restoring fire- altered ecosystems by working to counter the
threats posed to both human and natural communities where the role of fire
is severely out of balance.

* The Wilderness Society seeks to save, protect, and restore America*s
wilderness areas through the combination of scientific expertise,
analysis, advocacy, and education. The Wilderness Society*s Wildland Fire
Program is an interdisciplinary program designed to return fire to fire-
dependent ecosystems in a socially acceptable manner.

Page 57 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Appendix IV: Remote Sensing Systems
Remote sensing systems observe data in one or more bands of the

electromagnetic spectrum, including the visible, near- infrared,
midinfrared, thermal infrared, and microwave bands. Data from different
bands provide different kinds of information. For

example, data observed in the thermal infrared band can identify heat
sources that are not observable in the visible band of the electromagnetic
spectrum. When data are collected from multiple

bands or from multiple channels within a band, a more sophisticated
analysis can be performed.

Remote sensors are often characterized by the type of observations they
perform and their resulting products. Common types of sensors include
panchromatic imaging sensors, multispectral imaging sensors, hyperspectral
imaging sensors, radio detection and ranging (radar) sensors, and light
detection and ranging

(LIDAR) sensors. A definition of each type of sensor follows.

* Panchromatic imaging sensors collect data in a single band of the
electromagnetic spectrum. These data are then processed to provide a black
and white image.

* Multispectral imaging sensors collect data in multiple, noncontiguous,
wide- wavelength bands, which are then combined to create color images.

* Hyperspectral imaging sensors collect data in multiple, contiguous,
narrow- wavelength bands. Because different materials absorb and reflect
light differently, analysis of detailed hyperspectral data can identify
different materials, minerals, and species.

* Radar sensors emit a high- frequency radio wave to determine a remote
object*s velocity, position, or other characteristic by analyzing the
radio wave reflected from the remote object. Radar

sensors can acquire images through clouds, fog, and darkness.

* LIDAR sensors emit a light beam and analyze the reflected and scattered
light that is returned to the collection instrument. This measured change
enables LIDAR to penetrate a forest canopy to

map the floor and can aid in the determination of topographic elevations.

Page 58 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Remote sensing systems can be placed
on satellite and aerial platforms. These platforms can be government-
owned or commercial. Currently, there are numerous government- owned and

commercial remote sensing systems* used on both satellite and aerial
platforms. Table 2 identifies characteristics of several different remote
sensing systems that are currently operational. Key characteristics that
help distinguish one system from another

include image resolution (the size of the objects that can be depicted in
an image) and revisit rate (the rate at which a platform returns to an
area).

Table 2: Characteristics of Selected Remote Sensing Systems Sensor
Platform Sensor type Image

resolution (meters) Revisit rate

Thematic Mapper NASA Satellite: Landsat- 5

Multispectral (Observed spectral bands: visible, near infrared, short wave
infrared, and thermal infrared) 30* 120 16 days

(offset 8 days from Landsat- 7)

Enhanced Thematic Mapper+

NASA Satellite: Landsat- 7

Panchromatic, multispectral (Observed spectral bands: visible, near-
infrared, wave infrared, and thermal

infrared) 15* 60 16 days (offset 8 days

shortfrom Landsat- 5)

Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer

NOAA Satellites: Polar- orbiting

Operational Environmental Satellites

Multispectral (Observed spectral bands: visible, near- infrared, and
thermal infrared) 1,100 0.5 days

Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission

Reflection Radiometer NASA

Satellite: Earth Observing System/ Terra

Multispectral (Observed spectral bands: visible, near- infrared, shortand
wave infrared, and thermal infrared) 15* 90 16 days Moderate Resolution
Imaging Spectroradiometer

NASA Satellites: Earth System/ Aqua

and Terra Multispectral

(Observed spectral bands: visible, near- infrared, shortObserving wave
infrared, and thermal infrared) 250* 1,000 1* 2 days

Panchromatic Multispectral, Low Resolution Indian

Satellite: IRS- 1C, 1D

Panchromatic, Multispectral (Observed spectral bands: visible, near-
infrared, and shortIRS- wave infrared)

5.8* 188 5* 24 days

Page 59 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Sensor Platform Sensor type Image
resolution

(meters) Revisit rate

High Resolution Geometric, Visible and Infrared

French Satellites: SPOT 4 and 5

Panchromatic, multispectral (Observed spectral bands: visible, near-
infrared, and shortwave infrared)

2.5* 20 1* 4 days High resolution imaging sensors

Private sector satellites (Ikonos, Quickbird) Panchromatic, multispectral

(Observed spectral bands: visible and near- infrared)

0.6* 4 Varies by vendor: 3* 5 days

High resolution imaging sensors

Aircraft Panchromatic, multispectral (Observed spectral bands: varies by
vendor)

Varies by vendor: often 0. 5* 1 As warranted

Phoenix infrared scanner

National Interagency Fire Center aircraft

Multispectral (Observed spectral band: thermal infrared) 0.25* 1 As
warranted Sources: Forest Service, Remote Sensing Applications Center,
GAO.

Page 60 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Appendix V: Examples of Applications
with Geospatial Components Supporting Wildland Fire Management

The following tables provide examples of different applications with
geospatial information components that are used in support of wildland
fire management activities. Table 3 provides examples of operational
applications, and table 4 provides examples of developmental applications.

Table 3: Examples of Operational Applications Name and description Lead
entities Users For more information Automated Flight Following:

transmits geographic positions of aircraft for graphical display

Forest Service (FS) Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Bureau of Land

Management (BLM) Forest Service (FS) Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
National Park Service (NPS)

https:// aff. nifc. gov Automated Lightning Mapping System: downloads and
maps near- real- time lightning location information from the BLM
lightning data

server FS BIA

BLM FS FWS NPS

http:// www. fs. fed. us/ fire/ planning /nist/ alms. htm# ALMS California
Fire Plan

Assessment System: assesses weather, fuels, and assets at risk to identify
areas to target for mitigation projects

California California http:// www. fire. ca. gov/ fireemergencyresponse/
fireplan/ chapter3. html Coarse Scale Spatial Data for

Wildland Fire and Fuel Management: provides nationwide coarse- scale
vegetation and fire regime

mapping FS Multiple users (including federal, state, and local governments
as well as the public)

http:// www. fs. fed. us/ fire/ fuelman Ecosystem Management Model:
simulates ecosystem processes and evaluates resource management actions
before their implementation

Canada Fire and Fuels Extension to Forest Vegetation Simulator: simulates
effects of treatment alternatives on fuel dynamics and fire potential into
the future

FS FS (regional use) http:// forest. moscowfsl. wsu. edu/ 4155/ ffe- fvs.
html

Page 61 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Name and description Lead entities
Users For more information Fire Area Simulator

(FARSITE): simulates and maps fire growth and behavior under complex
terrain, fuels, and weather conditions

FS BLM FS NPS State governments Local governments

http:// www. farsite. org Fire Potential Index: provides national fire
potential mapping based on vegetation and weather data

FS U. S. Geological Survey (USGS)

Multiple users (including federal, state, and local governments as well as
the public) http:// www. fs. fed. us/ land/ wfas/

experment. htm FirePac: provides tools for a variety of fire management
applications, including fire perimeter mapping

NPS BIA BLM FS FWS NPS

http:// www. fs. fed. us/ fire/ gis/ incident- support/ firepac. htm
Forest Vegetation

Information System: stores, retrieves, and analyzes data used to inventory
and monitor vegetation on forested lands

BLM BLM http:// www. blm. gov/ nstc/ resourcenotes/ rn48. html FX- Net:
provides portable weather forecasting

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

BIA BLM FS FWS NPS National Weather Service http:// www- id. fsl. noaa.
gov/

fxnet. html GeoMAC: provides Internetbased national fire monitoring and
perimeter mapping

USGS BIA BLM FS FWS NPS Public http:// www. geomac. gov Immediate Response
Burn

Severity Mapping for Burned Area Emergency Response Teams: provides
preliminary burn severity mapping to FS fires and provides support to

other agency fires on request FS BIA

BLM FS NPS

http:// www. fs. fed. us/ eng/ rsac/ baer Immediate Response Burn

Severity Mapping for Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation Teams:

provides preliminary burn severity mapping

USGS BIA BLM FWS NPS

http:// edc2. usgs. gov/ fsp/ severity /fire_ main. asp Initial Attack
Management

System: records, monitors, and reports aviation hazards and restrictions

BLM FS

BLM FS

http:// www. nifc. blm. gov/ nsdu/ aviation Initial Attack Management

System Maps Viewer: provides graphical representation of various kinds of
geographic data

BLM BLM FS

Alaska Fire Service version at http:// fire. ak. blm. gov/ scripts/ maps/
maps. asp

Page 62 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Name and description Lead entities
Users For more information Integrated Forest

Management System: integrates vegetation/ fuels data and tools for fuels
reduction analysis FS FS (regional use) http:// www. fs. fed. us/
foresthealth

/technology/ products/ informs/ INF overview. html Landscape Fire Model:

provides for land use planning BLM (Alaska) Landscape Simulation Model:

provides spatially explicit landscape dynamics simulation modeling for
southern Utah

FS FS (regional use) http:// www. firelab. org/ fep/ research/ sufm/
studyplan/ ls. htm Lightning Data: displays realtime

lightning information and provides tracking capability BLM BLM

FS http:// www. nifc. blm. gov/ nsdu/

lightning/ Meteorology for Fire Severity Forecasting: provides monthly
forecasts of weather- induced fire potential for the continental United
States

FS http:// met. rfl. psw. fs. fed. us/ met/ MFWF. html MODIS Active Fire
Mapping:

provides coarse- scale mapping of current wildfire locations and fire
perimeters

FS National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

BIA BLM FS FWS NPS Public http:// activefiremaps. fs. fed. us Multi-
Resource Analysis and

Geographic Information: schedules treatments to meet resource and
management objectives and computes tradeoffs associated with the treatment
schedule FS Multiple users (including federal, state, and local
governments as well as the public)

http:// www. forestry. umt. edu/ magis National Fire Danger Rating

System: uses fuels, topography, and weather to derive national maps of
potential fire occurrence

and behavior FS Multiple users (including federal, state, and local
governments as well as the public)

http:// www. fs. fed. us/ land/ wfas/ wfas23.html National Fire Plan Maps:

provides Internet- based mapping of hazardous fuels program projects in
relation to wildland urban interface communities

USGS BIA BLM FS FWS NPS

http:// www. fireplan. gov National Fire Plan Operations & Reporting
System (NFPORS): provides Internetbased mapping and data collection for
restoration and rehabilitation, hazardous fuels

reduction, and community assistance projects Department of the Interior

FS BIA

BLM FS FWS NPS http:// www. nfpors. gov

Page 63 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Name and description Lead entities
Users For more information National Wildland Fire

Outlook: provides seasonal and monthly maps and narratives of the national
wildland fire outlook

National Interagency Coordination Center

Multiple users (including federal, state, and local governments as well as
the public) http:// www. nifc. gov/ firemaps. html NFSPUFF: models smoke

dispersion for complex terrains in the western United States

FS FS (western U. S.) http:// www. frames. gov/ tools/ html /NFSPUFF.
detailed. html Normalized Difference

Vegetation Index: provides national vegetation greenness mapping

USGS Multiple users (including federal, state, and local governments as
well as the public) http:// www. fs. fed. us/ land/ wfas/ wfas11.html NPS-
USGS National Burn

Severity Mapping: provides extended assessment burn severity mapping for
long- term

monitoring of fire effects NPS

USGS NPS http:// edc2. usgs. gov/ fsp/ severity

/fire_ main. asp Personal Computer Historical Analysis: analyzes
historical wildland fire occurrence for wildland fire planning

FS BIA BLM FS

http:// www. fs. fed. us/ fire/ planning /nist/ pcha. htm Phoenix Digital
Signal

Processor: provides infrared fire detection and mapping FS BIA

BLM FS FWS NPS

http:// nirops. fs. fed. us Real- time Observation Monitor and Analysis
Network: provides current fire weather conditions nationwide

BLM University of Utah

http:// www. met. utah. edu/ roman Resources Ordering and Status System:
automates resource ordering, dispatching, and reporting; geospatial
component is planned

FS BIA BLM FS FWS NPS Federal Emergency Management Agency State
governments

http:// ross. nwcg. gov Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies:
provides a process for developing prevention and fuels management programs

BLM BIA BLM

http:// www. nifc. blm. gov/ nsdu/ fire _planning/ rams SAM Sensitive Area
Program:

provides spatial analyses for mapping complex resource issues for
overflight planning

NPS NPS http:// www. nps. gov/ gis/ applications/ new_ apps. html Southern
State Fuel Hazard

Mapping: provides a map of fuel hazards and a fuel model for all
southeastern states

FS FS (regional) FWS State governments Local governments

Page 64 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Name and description Lead entities
Users For more information Tool for Exploratory

Landscape Scenario Analysis:

helps resource managers and planners assess the consequences of
alternative management scenarios at the scale of landscape units

FS FS http:// www. eessa. com/ downloads /telsa Utah Wildfire Initial
Attack

Dispatch Application Cedar City Support Center: provides dispatching of
fire personnel and geospatial information system capabilities Utah BIA
(regional use)

BLM (regional use) NPS (regional use) Utah

Ventilation Climate Information System: assesses risks to values of air
quality and visibility from historical patterns of ventilation conditions
FS Multiple users (including federal, state, and local governments as well
as the public)

http:// www. fs. fed. us/ pnw/ fera/ vent Wildfire Hazard Identification

and Mitigation System:

combines wildfire hazard assessment, prevention, and suppression expertise
with fire and forest management knowledge

Boulder County, Colorado

Local government http:// www. co. boulder. co. us/ lu/ wildfire/ whims.
htm Wildland Fire Assessment

System: provides Internetbased national fire potential and weather mapping

FS Multiple users (including federal, state, and local governments as well
as the public) http:// www. fs. fed. us/ land/ wfas Wildland Fire
Management Information System: provides Internet- based weather,
lightning, fire reporting, and

aviation information BLM BLM http:// www. nifc. blm. gov Sources: NWCG,
FS, BLM, GAO.

Table 4: Examples of Developmental Applications Name and description Lead
entities Planned users For more information Fire Behavior Mapping and
Analysis: is to map potential fire behavior characteristics and
environmental conditions using topography and fuels data layers

FS FS (local use) http:// fire. org/ cgi- bin/ nav. cgi? pages= JFSP&
mode= 11 Fire Effects Assessment

Tools: is to provide fire ecology and vegetation data collection, data
handling, and data analysis NPS NPS http:// ftp. nps. gov/ incoming/ fire/

feat_ cbi Fire Effects Monitoring and Inventory Protocol: is to provide
standards for implementing a monitoring program before and after a burn

FS USGS * http:// fire. org/ firemon

Page 65 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Name and description Lead entities
Planned users For more information Fire Internet Map Server: is to provide
a spatial display of current fire intelligence

information BLM BIA BLM

FS FWS NPS

http:// www. fs. fed. us/ fire/ gis/ Documents/ FIMS_ FINAL_ RPT. doc Fire
Program Analysis: is to conduct analyses for fire

management planning and budgeting

FS BIA BLM FS FWS NPS

http:// fpa. nifc. gov FireSat: is to provide national wildland fire
detection (formerly called the Hazard Support System and the Integrated
Hazard Information System)

USGS (1997) NOAA (2001) Federal Emergency Management Agency (late 2002)

*

Incident Based Automation:

is to automate management activities during a fire incident

FS BIA BLM FS FWS NPS

Landscape and Fire Management Planning Tools (LANDFIRE): is to provide
nationwide vegetation/ fuels mapping and predictive models needed for fuel
treatment and

restoration projects FS

USGS BIA

BLM FS FWS NPS

http:// www. landfire. gov National Land Cover Data 2001: is to provide
nationwide intermediate- scale land cover mapping

Environmental Protection Agency FS NOAA USGS

* http:// landcover. usgs. gov/ nationallandcover. html National Park
Service

Vegetation and Fuels Mapping: is to provide vegetation/ fuels mapping of
NPS lands NPS

USGS NPS http:// biology. usgs. gov/ npsveg Southern Wildfire Risk

Assessment: is to provide tools to help analyze mitigation options and
estimate their

impact on wildland fire risk for 13 southern states Southern state

governments Southern states FS

http:// corp. spaceimaging. com/ swra/ Sources: NWCG, FS, BLM, GAO.

Page 66 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Appendix VI: Comments from the
Departments of Agriculture and the Interior

Page 68 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Appendix VII: GAO Contacts and
Acknowledgments GAO Contacts

David A. Powner, (202) 512- 9286, (303) 572- 7316 or pownerd@ gao. gov
Colleen M. Phillips, (202) 512- 6326 or phillipsc@ gao. gov
Acknowledgements In addition to those named above, Barbara Collier, Neil
Doherty, Joanne Fiorino, Richard Hung, Chester Joy, Anjalique Lawrence,
Tammi Nguyen, Megan Secrest, Karl Seifert, Lisa Warnecke, and Glenda
Wright made key contributions to this report.

Page 69 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Glossary The following terms are used
in the geospatial and wildland fire communities.

Aerial Photography Taking photographs from the air, such as a photograph
of part of the Earth*s surface, with a camera mounted in an aircraft;
usually involves taking strips of overlapping prints for mapping purposes.
Burn Severity A qualitative assessment of the heat pulse directed toward
the

ground during a fire. Burn severity relates to soil heating, large fuel
and duff consumption, consumption of the litter and organic layer beneath
trees and isolated shrubs, and mortality of buried plant parts. Burned
Area The full range of postfire activities to rehabilitate and restore
fire- Rehabilitation damaged lands, including protection of public health
and safety.

Digital Aerial Data A computer representation of imagery acquired from an
aircraft. This type of data is produced either by digitizing aerial
photographs or through direct acquisition by electronic sensors such as
digital cameras or Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) thermal imaging
sensors. Duff The layer of decomposing organic materials lying below the
litter

layer of freshly fallen twigs, needles, and leaves and immediately above
the mineral soil.

Fire Prevention Activities, including education, engineering, enforcement
and administration, that are directed at reducing the number of wildfires,
the costs of suppression, and fire- caused damages to resources and
property.

Fire Suppression All work and activities connected with fire-
extinguishing operations, beginning with discovery and continuing until
the fire is completely extinguished.

Fuel Combustible material. Fuel Condition Relative flammability of fuel as
determined by fuel type and environmental conditions.

Page 70 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Fuel Reduction Manipulation or
removal of fuels to reduce the likelihood of ignition, to lessen the
potential damage and resistance to control, or both (e. g., lopping,
chipping, crushing, piling, and burning).

Fuel Treatment (See fuel reduction.)

Geographic or Information about a phenomenon that can be referenced to a
Geospatial Information specific location relative to the earth*s surface.

Geographic A system of computer software, hardware, and data used to

Information manipulate, analyze, and graphically display a potentially
wide

System (GIS) array of information associated with geographic locations.
Typically, a GIS is used for handling maps of one kind or another. These
maps might be represented as several different layers, where each layer
holds data about a particular kind of feature (e. g.,

roads). Each feature is linked to a position on the graphical image of a
map. Geographic or A broad term encompassing all forms of technology to
gather,

Geospatial Information display, sample, and process geographic or
geospatial information,

Technology including in particular GIS, remote sensing, and use of the
Global Positioning System.

Global Positioning A system of navigational satellites operated by the U.
S. Department System (GPS) of Defense and available for civilian use. The
system can track objects anywhere in the world with an accuracy of
approximately 40 feet.

Hyperspectral Imaging Type of imaging that records many tens of bands of
imagery at very narrow bandwidths.

Infrared Imaging Producing images using the thermal infrared spectral
band; used for fire detection, mapping, and hotspot identification.

Initial Attack The actions taken by the first responders to arrive at a
wildfire to protect lives and property, and prevent further extension of
the fire.

LIDAR (From *light detection and ranging.*) An instrument capable of
measuring distance and direction to an object by emitting timed pulses of
light in a measured direction based on the time between when a pulse is
emitted and when its echo is received. Threedimensional information is
computed by relating these distances and direction measurements to the
location and orientation of the instrument. Airborne LIDAR instruments are
used to develop threedimensional data, such as digital elevation models,
tree and building heights, and feature geometry.

Page 71 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires Multispectral Imaging Acquiring
optical images in more than one spectral band.

Preparedness Condition or degree of being ready to cope with a potential
fire situation. Prescribed Fire Controlled application of fire to wildland
fuels, in either their natural or modified state, under specified
environmental conditions, which allows the fire to be confined to a
predetermined

area and produces the fire behavior and fire characteristics required to
attain planned fire treatment and resource management objectives.

Presuppression Activities in advance of fire occurrence to ensure
effective suppression action. Includes planning the organization,
recruiting and training, procuring equipment and supplies, maintaining
fire equipment and fire control improvements, and negotiating cooperative
or mutual aid agreements.

Prevention Activities directed at reducing the incidence of fires,
including public education, law enforcement, personal contact, and
reduction of fuel hazards (fuels management).

Radar (From *radio detection and ranging.*) An instrument that emits a
narrow beam of electromagnetic pulses (radio waves) in a specific
direction and measures the time, intensity, or other characteristics

of the energy that returns from targets or objects. Radar imagery can be
obtained at night or through clouds and smoke. Radar images provide a
unique visual impression, and advanced analysis of radar imagery usually
requires specific experience, knowledge,

and facilities.

Rehabilitation The activities necessary to repair damage or disturbance
caused by a wildfire or the wildfire suppression activity.

Remote Sensing Process of determining properties of objects without
contact, usually by measuring and recording images based on the
electromagnetic energy that has interacted with the objects. Remote
sensing also involves the manipulation of images to derive useful
information. Remote sensing traditionally involves aerial photography but
now includes many electronic sensors on both airborne and space- based
platforms. Satellite A space- based platform for sensors that measure,
image, receive,

and transmit data from an orbital path above the earth.

Spatial Resolution Spatial resolution is a measure of the size of the
smallest feature that can be distinguished in an image. That is, in a 30-
meter

Page 72 GAO- 03- 1047 Wildland Fires resolution image, one could discern
objects 30 meters and larger. Images with smaller discernable objects are
considered to have

higher resolutions.

Suppression All the work of extinguishing or confining a fire, beginning
with its discovery. Thermal Imaging (See infrared imaging.)

Wildfire A fire occurring on wildland that is not meeting management
objectives and thus requires a suppression response.

Wildland An area in which development is essentially nonexistent, except
for roads, railroads, power lines, and similar transportation features,
and structures, if any, are widely scattered.

Wildland Fire Any fire occurring on the wildlands, regardless of ignition
source, damages, or benefits. (310353)

GAO s Mission The General Accounting Office, the audit, evaluation and
investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting its
constitutional

responsibilities and to help improve the performance and accountability of
the federal government for the American people. GAO examines the use of
public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides
analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help Congress make
informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. GAO s commitment to
good government is reflected in its core values of accountability,
integrity, and reliability. The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies
of GAO documents at no cost is

through the Internet. GAO s Web site ( www. gao. gov) contains abstracts
and full- text files of current reports and testimony and an expanding
archive of older products. The Web site features a search engine to help
you locate documents using key words and phrases. You can print these
documents in their entirety,

including charts and other graphics. Each day, GAO issues a list of newly
released reports, testimony, and correspondence. GAO posts this list,
known as Today s Reports, on its Web site daily. The list contains links
to the full- text document files. To have GAO e- mail this list to you
every afternoon, go to www. gao. gov and select Subscribe to e- mail
alerts under the Order GAO Products heading.

The first copy of each printed report is free. Additional copies are $ 2
each. A check or money order should be made out to the Superintendent of
Documents. GAO also accepts VISA and Mastercard. Orders for 100 or more
copies mailed to a single address are discounted 25 percent. Orders should
be sent to:

U. S. General Accounting Office 441 G Street NW, Room LM Washington, D. C.
20548

To order by Phone: Voice: ( 202) 512- 6000 TDD: ( 202) 512- 2537 Fax: (
202) 512- 6061

Contact: Web site: www. gao. gov/ fraudnet/ fraudnet. htm E- mail:
fraudnet@ gao. gov Automated answering system: ( 800) 424- 5454 or ( 202)
512- 7470 Jeff Nelligan, Managing Director, NelliganJ@ gao. gov ( 202)
512- 4800 U. S. General Accounting Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7149
Washington, D. C. 20548 Obtaining Copies of

GAO Reports and Testimony Order by Mail or Phone To Report Fraud, Waste,
and Abuse in Federal Programs Public Affairs
*** End of document. ***