Today’s fire managers must make complex decisions to balance fire costs and benefits with the need to protect people, property, and other resources. Accumulated fuels, climate change, and diversifying landscapes will lead to more and larger fires in the future, adding further management challenges. Effective education and new approaches are needed to develop new professionals skilled at managing landscapes for long-term ecological and social resilience. The fire management organization needs diverse yet complementary research entities working together to address issues such as restoration of damaged landscapes, the effects of climate change on fire, invasive species, and increased values at risk in the wildland-urban interface.
The Wildland Fire Science Partnership integrates the scientific expertise, technological capability, and on-the-ground experience from the Universities of Idaho and Montana and the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station under a common mission.
The Fire, Fuel and Smoke Science Program of the Rocky Mountain Research Station has a national charter to conduct fundamental and applied research relating to wildland fire processes, terrestrial and atmospheric effects of fire, and ecological adaptations to fire. In addition, the program develops associated knowledge tools and applications for both scientists and managers. The scope of work addresses four stages of wildland fire, including: the pre-fire environment; combustion and fire behavior processes; immediate (first-order) fire effects; and longer-term (second-order) fire effects.
The Wildland Fire Management Research, Development and Application Program was nationally chartered in 2006 to provide effective and timely communication between fire research and fire management and to integrate new knowledge and processes into management. It focuses on guiding development and application of scientific knowledge, developing decision support tools, and providing science application services to the interagency wildland fire community.
The National Center for Landscape Fire Analysis applies innovative science and technology to on-the-ground natural resource management. It conducts research, learning, and technology development within the College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana, Missoula. The Center develops, integrates, and synthesizes remote sensing, social assessments, economic considerations, and other information technology applications to improve fire and fuels management at the landscape scale. It also develops innovative approaches for delivery of these products through training, education, and support for graduate-level research.
The Fire Research And Management Exchange System or FRAMES is a systematic method of exchanging information and transferring technology between wildland fire researchers, managers, and other stakeholders. In partnership with the US Geological Survey's National Biological Information Infrastructure Program, FRAMES is implementing web-based technologies that can help bridge the gap between science and management. In collaboration, the wildland fire research and management communities can use these technologies to help eliminate redundancy, reduce costs, and promote increased productivity and efficiency. The University's Wildland Fire Program is a leader in wildland fire education and research that offers both undergradate and graduate-level courses.
Partnership Leadership Team
Colin Hardy, Program Manager, Fire, Fuels and Smoke, Rocky Mountain Research Station
Program Manager, Wildland Fire RD&A, Rocky Mountain Research Station
Greg Gollberg, Program Manager, FRAMES, University of Idaho
Penny Morgan, Forest Resources Professor, University of Idaho
LLoyd Queen, Director, National Center for Landscape Fire Analysis, The University of Montana
Executive Board
Jim Burchfield, Dean of the College of Forestry and Conservation, The University of Montana
Kurt Pregitzer, Dean of College of Natural Resources, University of Idaho
Sam Foster, Station Director of Rocky Mountain Research Station
Kristine Lee, Rocky Mountain Research Station, is the Partnership Coordinator
Increase core fire and fuel science and measurement capabilities to improve resource management and fire planning.
Produce timely, reliable, and consistent fire and fuel information for scientists, resource managers, policymakers, and the public
Increase access to critical data and applications to support documentation, implementation, and review of decisions and accomplishments.
Develop the skills and capabilities of current and future fire managers by providing experiential education, research opportunities, access to relevant science data and applications, and training.