Fire
The Forest Service is the world’s leading wildland fire research organization. Forest Service applications and tools help prevent catastrophic wildfires that threaten lives and communities, damage homes, and impact rural economies. Forest Service research also leads innovations to improve firefighter safety and provide the practical knowledge and tools fire managers need. Scientists are developing emerging technologies like satellites for early detection of fires, drones for wildfire operations, and mobile safety applications.
Economic Significance
Annual economic losses from wildfires in the United States exceed $40 billion.
Rural communities face disproportionate economic risks from uncontrolled wildfires.
Forest Service research helps protect people and mitigate billions of dollars’ worth of potential economic losses by informing wildland fire prevention and management strategies across all federal and non-federal ownerships.
Forest Service research and data is relied upon by private businesses for a variety of wildfire-related products.
Key Research Contributions
Fire Prevention and Mitigation
- Forest Service research has developed advanced predictive models of wildfire risk, such as dynamic maps of wildfire risk to communities in the wildland urban interface.
- Forest Service scientists create strategies for effective investments in fuel reduction and landscape management.
- This work helps communities implement cost-effective fire prevention and mitigation techniques.
Rural Economic Protection
- Forest Service scientists develop resources for managers to reduce the damaging effects of wildfire. This helps to preserve timber industry infrastructure and natural resource jobs and to protect tourism-dependent local economies.
- Forest Service research provides decision support science for post-wildfire management and recovery, including rapid assessments following wildfire and the Burned Area Emergency Response program.
Economic Benefits
- There is a seven-dollar return on investment for every dollar spent on fuel treatments and forest management informed by fire research.
- These risk-based frameworks help Forest Service managers and partners pre-plan for wildfire response, setting wildfire management teams up for a greater chance of success.
- This research supports the long-term sustainability of forest-dependent communities. For example, scientists are working with local fire mitigation groups to help homeowners effectively reduce fire risk around their homes.
Research Outcomes
- Enhanced wildfire prediction capabilities save lives and protect property (e.g., projections of changes in wildfire suppression spending through time).
- Improved understanding of intensifying wildfire behavior.
- Effective fuel management strategies (e.g., multiagency prescribed fire research campaigns in Georgia, New Jersey, Florida and Utah that improve prescribed fire decision support).
- Reduced economic vulnerability for rural communities.