Review of prescribed fires finds gaps in key areas as US Forest Service looks to improve safety
ALBUQUERQUE, NM — Two years later the us forest service has Independent researchers say this would be the largest and most destructive wildfire in New Mexico’s history. There are gaps that need to be filled if the agency is to use controlled fires as a tool to reduce the risks of climate change.
The investigation by the Government Accountability Office was requested by U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández after communities in her district were devastated in 2022 by the Hermit’s Peak-Calf Canyon Fire.
The congresswoman wanted to know what factors the Forest Service had identified as contributing to the escape of prescribed fires over the past decade and whether the agency was implementing those measures. promised reforms after a pause and revision of the prescribed combustion program.
The report, released Monday, found that 43 escapes were documented between 2012 and 2021 from 50,000 prescribed fire projects. That included fires in national forests in more than a dozen states, from the California-Nevada border to Utah, New Mexico, Idaho, North Carolina and Arkansas.
As the U.S. Forest Service and other land management agencies appeal to federal infrastructure and inflation-fighting funds to increase the number of prescribed burning operations over the next 10 years, Leger Fernández says it is more important than ever to ensure they do so safely.
The congresswoman has been visiting northern New Mexico in recent days and was impressed by how things have become greener thanks to the summer rains. But the forests are still tinderboxes, she said.
“We need to address our forest, but we need to do it responsibly,” she told The Associated Press. “When you play with fire, there’s no room for error.”
The Forest Service sets about 4,500 prescribed fires each year, reducing the amount of fuel needed on about 1.3 million acres. It is part of a billion dollar cleanup of forests full of dead trees and undergrowth.
According to the federal government, results have been mixed, as federal land managers have fallen behind on some projects and have bypassed some highly threatened communities to work in less threatened communities. an AP review from 2023 of data, public documents, and congressional testimony.
However, the Forest Service said in a response to the GAO that it is making progress and generally agrees with the findings made public Monday. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore wrote that his agency will develop and implement a corrective action plan to address the gaps.
Moore also noted that 2023 was a record year for hazardous fuels handling on forest lands and that his agency was on track to offer more training to develop teams that can specialize in prescribed burning operations.
“The agency is using all available tools to reduce the risk of wildfires at a pace and on a scale that will make a difference within our current resources,” Moore wrote.
The GAO reviewed volumes of documents, interviewed forest rangers, and conducted site visits over several months. The investigation found that the Forest Service took steps to implement several immediately recommended changes following the Hermit’s Peak-Calf Canyon Fire. That included developing a national strategy for mobilizing resources for prescribed fire projects.
There were dozens of other actions the agency identified as part of its 2022 review, but the GAO found that “significant gaps” remain as the Forest Service has not yet determined the extent to which it will implement the remaining actions, including how or when.
The GAO recommends that the Forest Service develop a plan for implementing the reforms, set goals, find a way to measure progress, and ensure that there are adequate resources for the day-to-day management of the reform effort. It also noted that the Forest Service acknowledged in agency documents that the reforms will require major changes in practices and culture.
Leger Fernández hopes that change will come soon, as forest fires are becoming increasingly expensive and dangerous.
“These are deadly fires now. They’re spreading very quickly and people can’t get out of the way fast enough,” she said. “And I think these kinds of massive emergencies are going to drive change faster than you would normally see in a large federal bureaucracy.”