Chief Moore's New Direction on Prescribed Fire
In his 2023 Letter of Direction to USDA wildland firefighters, Chief Randy Moore made a significant change in tone and language when it comes to the use of prescribed fire. In his previous two letters after taking the agency reins, Moore had placed a heavy emphasis on fire suppression, and had limited the use of prescribed fire due to concerns about safety and risk. Moore received considerable push back in his 2021 Letter of Direction, where he stated “managing fires for resource benefit is a strategy we will not use.” Language in the 2022 Letter of Direction wasn’t much better, attempting to placate the increasingly vocal timber shills and agency retirees, out-of-touch with the realities of climate-driven wildfires. However, in his 2023 letter, Moore acknowledged the importance of prescribed fire in reducing wildfire risk, and called for a significant increase in the pace and scale of prescribed burning on Forest Service lands.
We’ve heard this before, but this time the agency is making substantive changes, putting prescribed fire more on par with wildfire suppression efforts. This change in direction is a welcome one, and it is a reflection of the growing body of scientific evidence that shows the benefits of prescribed fire. Prescribed fire can help to reduce the amount of dead and dry fuel in forests, which can make them more resistant to wildfires. It can also help to improve forest health by reducing the risk of insect and disease outbreaks.
Moore's new direction is also timely, as the 2023 fire season is expected to be slower than in recent years due to more mountain snow from last winter. This will provide an opportunity for the Forest Service to increase its prescribed fire program without putting communities at risk. Rather than resting on their laurels by taking credit for suppression on the shoulder seasons and the increasingly rare cooler fire seasons, fire managers need to take these opportunities to safely put more fire on the ground.
In his letter, Moore also emphasized the importance of safety and risk management in prescribed fire operations. He called for a "robust dialogue" with partners and stakeholders to ensure that prescribed fires are conducted safely and effectively. He also directed the Forest Service to develop a new Prescribed Fire Mobilization Strategy to ensure that there are enough resources available to support a larger prescribed fire program.
“We will use all available resources, including contract resources, to support a larger prescribed fire program”
The new Prescribed Fire Mobilization Strategy is a significant step forward for the Forest Service. It outlines a plan to ramp up prescribed burning on Forest Service lands, while also ensuring that safety and risk management are top priorities. The strategy includes a number of innovative approaches, such as the use of contract resources to supplement Forest Service staff, mobilizing prescribed fire implementation teams (like the incident management teams mobilized for large fires), and even developing workarounds so firefighters can get the same long hours with something like hazard pay for longer prescribed fire assignments. Imagine that, a fire camp with a food unit, a shower unit, and the pay expectation one would have on a suppression assignment. What next? “Thank you, fire lighters” signs scrawled in crayon at the local grade school?
I applaud Chief Moore for his new direction on prescribed fire. It is a bold and necessary step that will help to reduce wildfire risk and improve forest health. This took enormous courage after last spring’s escaped prescribed fire in New Mexico that precipitated a programmatic review of the USFS prescribed fire program, followed by the arrest of a USFS Burn Boss by a Constitutional Sheriff last fall in Eastern Oregon. Consider the National Park Service response after their big prescribed fire escape in 2000 resulting in the Cerro Grande Fire - The NPS went over a year without igniting a single pile or broadcast burn. Time is running out to find suitable windows to conduct all the burning that needs to happen. I am hopeful that this change will lead to a more sustainable future for our forests.