POLICIES

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Policies

Wildland fire recognizes no ownership or jurisdictional boundaries on the landscape; nor do the complex issues of fire management. As a result, perhaps nowhere is the practice of interagency and interdepartmental cooperation so prevalent and effective as in the nation's wildland fire community.

Five federal agencies, including the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Park Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, along the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, manage and have primary fire program responsibilities on more than 676 million acres. The U.S. Fire Administration works with county and local fire departments; while the states are represented by the National Association of State Foresters. The state, county and local jurisdictions provide primary fire protection on public and private lands covering additional hundreds of millions of acres across all 50 states.

As partners, we work together on fire management issues covering the spectrum from safety and planning, to science, preparedness, operations, strategy development, logistics, intelligence, emergency response, and more. We also collaborate on interagency strategies to manage wildfires, not only for single incidents but as a matter of policy.

In the Spotlight
photo of wildland fire and operations