  
The Alaska Interagency Wildland Fire Management Plan (AIWFMP) establishes four, predetermined fire management options which range from immediate suppression actions to periodic surveillance. The land manager/owner selects the fire management options for the lands they manage or own based upon their land and management objectives, policies, and mandates. The four management options, in priority of firefighting resource allocation, are Critical, Full, Modified and Limited. When a fire ignites on parklands the suppression agency and the NPS Fire Management Officers work in concert to insure the fire is managed according to the AIWFMP and meets NPS objectives. For example: the Limited Management Option is applied to areas where the cost of suppression may exceed the value of the resources to be protected, the environmental impacts of fire suppression activities may be more negative than the impacts of the fire or the exclusion fire may be detrimental to the fire dependent ecosystems. The typical suppression action for fires in Limited is surveillance to insure that the fire remains in the predetermined area and does not threaten sites or resources selected for protection.
Because of the sheer size of Alaska, interagency cooperation is a critical component to Alaska Fire Management. NPS Alaska Wildland Fire Management is a vital and active member in this endeavor.
Wildland fire management for the Alaska NPS units is unlike most NPS units elsewhere in the system. The NPS is not responsible for the primary suppression efforts (initial attack) on wildland fires in the national parks, preserves and monuments. The Alaska NPS units contribute firefighters when numerous wildland fires are burning in Alaska or the contiguous United States. The objectives of the Alaska NPS wildland fire management program are to protect human life and firefighter safety, protect specific property and resources, and accomplish fire and resource management objectives in a cost effective manner. The emphasis of the Alaska NPS wildland fire management program is wildland fire use and support of suppression activities; reduction of hazard fuels, fire ecology including monitoring of fire effects and communication and education for the general public and NPS employees.
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Author: Karen La May
Last modified
on: March 8, 2006
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