Northeast Regional Strategy Committee
Immediate Opportunities for Success in the Northeast

The Northeast Region encompasses 20 Midwestern and Northeastern states and the District of Columbia. The 20 states comprise the most densely populated region of the nation, home to more than 41 percent of Americans. Land ownership and management, natural, and weather/climate event created fuel loading (surface fuels loading), high wildfire occurrence, and extensive wildland urban interface (WUI) contribute to the challenge of managing wildland fire programs in the Northeast.

This summary provides examples, such as partnerships, efforts, projects, and initiatives, that  address each of the Cohesive Strategy’s themes and provide opportunities for accelerating implementation and application of the Cohesive Strategy in the Northeast Region.

Restore and Maintain Landscapes

Missouri Pine-Oak Woodlands Restoration Project

The project lies within an area identified by numerous agencies and entities as one of the highest priority ecological restoration areas on the Ozark Plateau. The area is the best opportunity in the forested area of Missouri for federal, state, non-governmental organizations, and private landowners to work together at a landscape scale. Federal and state agencies and TNC own and administer a large proportion of the project area and have complementary land management activities and desired conditions. Read more about this Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program Project on the Mark Twain National Forest…

Buckhorn Wildlife Area

The Buckhorn Wildlife Area in central Wisconsin is managed to promote an oak-pine barrens native community on 934 acres of land. Barrens community types are rare, natural communities that were well represented in this area prior to European settlement. Due to the lower development and public use and the large fire-break provided by a lake, the wildlife area provides opportunity to use prescribed fire as a primary management tool. Sites with diseased and dying oak and jack pine are being converted into barrens in small acreage increments by utilizing commercial timber harvests, firewood salvage, piling, and burning. In addition, an existing prairie is being expanded by cutting trees and brush in patches ranging from a few acres to hundreds of acres in size, large snag trees are being retained for cavity dwelling wildlife, the area is monitored for exotic species eradication, and pedestrian trails are provided for public education and ecological interpretation use of the area.

In 2011, with financial assistance from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a highly fire-prone area was converted from a forested situation to pine/oak barrens, thus reducing fuels and decreasing the chances of a running crown fire as well as putting a globally rare habitat back on the landscape. Fuels were reduced and the area was opened up with a 58-acre timber sale followed by mulching and brushing of residual vegetation. A drivable firebreak was installed in order to do periodic prescribed burning to maintain the open barrens situation. Exotics and invading brush were treated and native vegetation was seeded and planted.

Expanding Prescribed Fire Experience Opportunities

In the fall of 2010, a cooperative training exchange was developed between with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service to address both prescribed fire and wildfire suppression training needs for fire personnel. Detailers from the U.S. Forest Service in California and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in California and Alaska spent time this spring assisting with prescribed fire projects at Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and the Iowa Wetland Management District in north central Iowa, filling trainee roles from RXB2 to FFT1. In addition, a number of fire managers from the state of Iowa and municipal firefighters from several Iowa communities participated in this exchange. Altogether, the group accomplished about 5400 acres of burning (35 units) and provided training to 13 firefighters. Trainees were mentored by trainers from the FWS home unit, as well as peers from participating agencies for prescribed fire qualifications needed. Trainees gained experience burning in different fuel types, working with different partners and also obtained a brief introduction to fuels and habitat management in the prairie pothole region of Iowa. Participants also had the opportunity to learn about specialized equipment used in the fire program at IA-USR and the IA-WTR.

Rare Bunnies Benefit from Controlled Burns in Massachusetts

The New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis) loves the thickets and brush found in young forests in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine. This cottontail, the region’s only native rabbit, needs young, regenerating forests that provide abundant food and cover from predators. However, this early stage of forest is exceedingly rare in the Northeast, leading to the loss of more than 80 percent of the New England cottontail’s range in the last 50 years. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service annually assesses the cottontail’s status as a candidate for Endangered Species Act protection, and the agency is working with partners across the cottontail’s historic range to proactively reverse the declining trend of its populations. Some may be surprised at one of the tools used to manage and protect the New England cottontail’s Massachusetts habitat: fire. Read more about rare bunnies benefitting from controlled burns…

Fire Adapted Communities

Barnes-Drummond Community Wildfire Protection Plan 

In Wisconsin, the state, national forest, and local governments all collaborated to develop a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) several years ago, the. This is an example of a successful collaboration because the plan clearly identified what they would do and who would do it. Most (or much) of the first plan was completed using federal and state funding sources and the group is now planning to revise and update the plan. Read more about the Barnes-Drummond CWPP…

Voyager Village - A Firewise Community Journey 

Voyager Village is a 6,000-acre homeowner association spread out through three townships in northwest Wisconsin, each considered to be at very high risk, in terms of wildfire danger. Local Forestry staff had been working with Voyager more than a year, guiding them through the steps to become a recognized Firewise Community, when a massive storm hit the area July 1, 2011. A Firewise assessment had been conducted in 2010 during which local DNR staff and fire department personnel toured the development with community members, discussing forest fire and emergency access concerns. In turn, the board of Voyager Village agreed to begin work to educate their community on fire prevention and they quickly began implementing fuels reduction efforts. Voyager Village was assisted with National Fire Plan funds provided to them through the Division of Forestry’s hazard mitigation program. Over the next year Voyager Village sent a Firewise mailing to property owners, erected a Smokey Bear fire danger sign, and completed fuels reduction work in commonly-owned portions of the development.

After the storm hit the area, property owners of Voyager Village were in a better position to begin the long, arduous task of mitigating the damage to their community. Relationships with Department staff were in place, they had already demonstrated accountability in conducting hazard mitigation projects, and they were well within the process of becoming a Firewise Community. Steve Johnson, property manager at Voyager Village, recently sent this in an email, “I want to thank you for your help and staff over the past two years. I am very happy that we started on the things we did before the storm because that info and awareness has been very helpful to this community.” At the end of December, Steve submitted an application for Firewise Community recognition; Voyager Village is planned to be presented with an award and recognition materials at a community event this spring.

Town of Rome Curbside Chipping Program 

The Town of Rome, in central Wisconsin, is listed as the fifth highest at risk community in the state due to its sandy soils, highly flammable vegetation types, and development patterns. The majority of homes are located in high density, wooded subdivisions where oak wilt and dead and dying pine has resulted in increasing quantities of standing and fallen dead timber. This fuel buildup increases the risk to homes should a wildfire occur. Although Rome has a transfer site for brush drop off, many property owners do not have the means to transport brush to the site. With the assistance of local Division of Forestry staff and their local fire department, the Town of Rome completed the creation of a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) in 2007. Within the CWPP, a curbside chipping program was identified as a community fuels reduction strategy to provide a convenient means of brush removal for property owners.

Since the fall of 2008, the Town has conducted a chipping project each spring and fall targeting a different area of the Town. Using town staff and equipment, the brush that property owners move to the curb is either chipped or hauled to the transfer site where it is later chipped and used for boiler fuel. Cost share funds are provided by the Division of Forestry, through the Hazard Mitigation program (made possible through with NFP - Hazard Mitigation funds). By the end of 2012, every property owner in the Town will have had the opportunity to participate. As a result of Rome’s chipping program, every property owner will have been made aware of the wildfire risk of the area, been offered a home ignition zone assessment, received information about Firewise recommendations for preparing their home for wildfire, and had access to a convenient method of disposing of hazardous fuel from their property (3,540 yards to date). The biomass that was potential fuel for a wildfire has instead been converted to energy through its use as boiler fuel. Rome’s chipping program has been very effective and so well received that the Town is very likely to continue it into the future.

Lake Camelot Firewise Program 

Lake Camelot, a high-density lake development in central Wisconsin, consists of 37 subdivisions, totaling 2,260 lots. Approximately 400 acres of commonly owned, wooded property is mixed in throughout the subdivisions, bringing hazardous fuels into close proximity to homes. Prior to the introduction of Firewise, covenants required commonly owned areas to remain in their “natural” state, resulting in massive amounts of dead standing and downed vegetation. Lake Camelot began their Firewise journey in 2006, focusing the emphasis of their Firewise program on reducing the amount of hazardous fuels on the commonly owned properties. Lake Camelot has completed 35 chipping days on average per year since 2007, which equates to the cleanup of approximately 20% of the common areas to date with plans to continue their efforts on an on-going basis. Cost share funds for the chipping have been made available with National Fire Plan - Hazard Mitigation funds provided to them through the Division of Forestry’s hazard mitigation program.

The benefit of their cleanup effort was put to the test on April 7, 2012. An absentee property owner ignited a pile of branches in a fire pit on his vacant lot. He was cleaning up dead trees and brush but unfortunately chose to burn on a day when the fire danger was “VERY HIGH” and burning was not allowed. The fire burned to the common area; four structures were threatened by the wildfire but were ultimately saved due to the quick suppression action taken by DNR fire control staff and the local fire department. The fire was extinguished after burning only .63 acres.

If the fuel load had not been reduced, the fire might have burned more of the common area and threatened other homes nearby. The reduction in fuel load resulted in greater ease of suppression action. It was much easier for the equipment to plow on the common area where dead trees and brush had been chipped than it was on the private property which had piles of firewood and dead and downed trees. This wildfire incident highlights the fact that the Firewise program is very relevant to our high-risk communities. Wildfires do occur in these subdivisions and the hazard mitigation work that our Firewise Community partners do has the potential to keep a wildfire from becoming a disaster.

Response to Fire

Minnesota Incident Command System (MNICS)

Minnesota Incident Command System (MNICS) is an interagency group with state and federal partners that cooperate in management of wildfire and all risk incidents and provide standard procedures, practices, and information to facilitate, coordinate, and support actions on incidents in Minnesota. A Task Force of agency leads governs the organization. Member agencies are the US Forest Service (USFS), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), National Park Service (NPS), and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM). Read more about the MNICS…

State Assembly Honors Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry

On February 16, 2012 a joint resolution, commending the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Division of Forestry and our emergency response personnel was brought to the floor of the Wisconsin Assembly. “Resolved by the assembly, the senate concurring, That the members of the Wisconsin legislature commend the Department of Natural Resources−Division of Forestry and their emergency response personnel for their dedication to protecting the forests of Wisconsin and their commitment to preserving this treasured resource for future generations.” Read more about the joint resolution…

Northwest Incident Management Team

Fighting a fire requires teamwork and teamwork requires individuals working collectively to achieve their forest and property saving goal. Incident management training is important and ongoing, but especially so in spring 2012 as a result of the potential for fire resulting from a violent July 1, 2011, windstorm that swept through northwest Wisconsin, downing trees in six counties. Three regional Incident Management Teams were merged into one - the Northwest IMT - for greater effectiveness and efficiency. A 3-day training session was conducted to simulate the response that might be needed should a fire start in the blowdown area. The NW IMT includes forestry, law enforcement, safety, finance and wildlife services staff whose duties range from incident command and logistics to public information and safety.

Utilities and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Partnership

Utilities and Wisconsin’s Division of Forestry teamed up to reduce forest fire occurrence and fuel loading caused by the July 1, 2011 windstorm that hit northwest Wisconsin. The storm effected 250,000 acres and 343 miles of above ground distribution utility lines. The storm left tremendous amounts of down and leaning (hazard) trees which had the potential of causing and promoting challenging forest fires in Wisconsin’s most volatile landscape. In an effort to curb the risk for the upcoming spring fire season, DNR cost shared with the effected utilities to remove or chip downed trees and cut down and remove hazard trees outside of the utility’s right of way (ROW) by the end of 2011. By doing this the Division gain access points and future fuel breaks where suppression tactics could be implemented. The partnership also allowed the Division of Forestry to enhance some of utility’s ROW standards and the utilities gain support of the Division of Forestry to encourage landowners’ cooperation.

U.S Fish and Wildlife Staff Assist and Coordinate with Local Communities at Numerous Field Stations Across the Northeast Region

Activities include membership on local Fire and EMS Departments, training Fire Department personnel in wildland fire strategy and tactics, sharing wildland fire equipment, suppressing wildfires on private property with Fire Departments, responding to local All Hazard incidents. This has resulted in safer and more cost efficient incident responses.