Developing a series of fire science syntheses for wildland fire managers
Federal agencies manage wildland fire in many ways, including broad-scale fire management planning and site-specific fire and fuels management actions. Federal policy requires agencies to use science in fire management planning and environmental effects analyses. However, fire managers have limited time to compile and synthesize science. The USGS is collaborating with fire management staff across the Department of the Interior to develop structured science syntheses on high priority topics that meet the needs of wildland fire managers.
Background
Wildfires affect public lands and adjacent communities across the United States. Smoke, drought, the spread of invasive species, and loss of sensitive wildlife habitats are some of the many issues facing wildland fire managers on public lands.
Federal agencies analyze the potential effects of fire management plans and site-specific fire and fuels management actions under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Federal fire management planning policy and NEPA policy require that agencies use science in their analyses, and federal agencies strongly support use of the science in agency decision making. However, fire managers have limited time to compile and synthesize science on a topic and may lack the training, background, or expertise needed to synthesize science about a specific issue.
The USGS and federal land management agencies worked together to develop a new type of science delivery product for land managers, called structured science syntheses. These syntheses are coproduced by researchers and resource managers and address multiple types of science information needed for NEPA analyses, including data to characterize the presence and condition of resources of concern, scientific studies relevant to the potential for proposed actions to impact resources, methods for analyzing potential effects of proposed actions on resources, and effective actions for mitigating adverse environmental impacts (Carter and others 2023).
Objectives and Methods
The goal for this project is to develop and publish science syntheses about priority topics for wildland fire managers in the Department of the Interior.
The USGS is working with wildland fire management staff from bureaus across the Department of the Interior to identify priority management issues for which there is a need to synthesize available science to inform agency decision making. We follow an approach for producing science syntheses (Rutherford and others 2023, Dietrich and others 2024) that is grounded in a commitment to coproduction of actionable science to support public land management decisions (Selby and others 2024). Scientists and fire managers are collaborating throughout the project, working together to select and scope topics, conduct literature searches, outline and develop synthesis content, review drafts, and share the published syntheses.
This project will provide published science syntheses that are tailored for use by wildland fire managers in developing wildland fire management plans, NEPA analyses, and other required compliance documents for fire and fuels management. The intent of each synthesis is to help fire managers more easily access and use up-to-date, high-quality science information to strengthen the science foundation and defensibility of their decisions and enhance their understanding of potential environmental effects.
Developing structured science syntheses for use in NEPA analyses and decision making in the Bureau of Land Management
USGS Science Syntheses for Public Lands Management
Developing searchable annotated bibliographies for resource managers
Developing science syntheses to facilitate climate-informed land management decisions and NEPA analyses on rangelands in the sagebrush biome
Developing a toolkit for coproducing actionable science to support public land management
Federal agencies manage wildland fire in many ways, including broad-scale fire management planning and site-specific fire and fuels management actions. Federal policy requires agencies to use science in fire management planning and environmental effects analyses. However, fire managers have limited time to compile and synthesize science. The USGS is collaborating with fire management staff across the Department of the Interior to develop structured science syntheses on high priority topics that meet the needs of wildland fire managers.
Background
Wildfires affect public lands and adjacent communities across the United States. Smoke, drought, the spread of invasive species, and loss of sensitive wildlife habitats are some of the many issues facing wildland fire managers on public lands.
Federal agencies analyze the potential effects of fire management plans and site-specific fire and fuels management actions under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Federal fire management planning policy and NEPA policy require that agencies use science in their analyses, and federal agencies strongly support use of the science in agency decision making. However, fire managers have limited time to compile and synthesize science on a topic and may lack the training, background, or expertise needed to synthesize science about a specific issue.
The USGS and federal land management agencies worked together to develop a new type of science delivery product for land managers, called structured science syntheses. These syntheses are coproduced by researchers and resource managers and address multiple types of science information needed for NEPA analyses, including data to characterize the presence and condition of resources of concern, scientific studies relevant to the potential for proposed actions to impact resources, methods for analyzing potential effects of proposed actions on resources, and effective actions for mitigating adverse environmental impacts (Carter and others 2023).
Objectives and Methods
The goal for this project is to develop and publish science syntheses about priority topics for wildland fire managers in the Department of the Interior.
The USGS is working with wildland fire management staff from bureaus across the Department of the Interior to identify priority management issues for which there is a need to synthesize available science to inform agency decision making. We follow an approach for producing science syntheses (Rutherford and others 2023, Dietrich and others 2024) that is grounded in a commitment to coproduction of actionable science to support public land management decisions (Selby and others 2024). Scientists and fire managers are collaborating throughout the project, working together to select and scope topics, conduct literature searches, outline and develop synthesis content, review drafts, and share the published syntheses.
This project will provide published science syntheses that are tailored for use by wildland fire managers in developing wildland fire management plans, NEPA analyses, and other required compliance documents for fire and fuels management. The intent of each synthesis is to help fire managers more easily access and use up-to-date, high-quality science information to strengthen the science foundation and defensibility of their decisions and enhance their understanding of potential environmental effects.