Second U.S. Geological Survey Wildland Fire Workshop: Los Alamos, New Mexico, October 31-November 3, 2000

In the past decade, fire-management policies have shifted to embrace the reduction of long-term building of excessive fuel levels in the Nation's forests and rangelands. In 1995, the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior issued the Federal Wildland-Fire Policy Statement (Appendix A) identifying the critical role that fire can play in the management of forests and rangelands. As a result of revised policy, Federal agencies have increased the acres treated to reduce fire risk through "prescribed" fires and thinning techniques from 500,000 acres in 1995 to more than 2.4 million acres in 2001.