Can Wildland Fire Use Restore Natural Fire

The goal of this project was to help evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of wildland fire use (WFU) as a strategy for restoring historical fire regimes in wilderness and on other unroaded lands. Five wilderness areas and national parks were used as study areas to develop our analysis approach, which we then used to evaluate the existing fire management plans at each of these study areas. The information produced resulted in “improved understanding of the options for restoring and managing fire in unroaded, wilderness, and similar areas ” and provided a “tool for evaluating and understanding management and restoration goals in unroaded, wilderness, and other areas with restricted access” (Task 1 of RFP 2001-1). Two rounds of site visits to each study area allowed fire management staff to provide input and feedback on the approach and analysis results in the form of expert knowledge. At the request of fire and resource management staff, additional analyses were conducted to improve their assessments of the risks and opportunities from WFU