Fire Management

The Los Alamos fire, now officially known as the Cerro Grande fire, burned more than 48,000 acres, destroyed hundreds of homes, and forced the evacuation of more than 18,000 residents. More than 1,000 fire fighters were needed to bring the fire under control. Estimates have placed total damages at about $1 billion. The Los Alamos fire resulted from a prescribed fire set by officials of the National Park Service. Ironically, the fire was started to clear out vegetative buildup in a forested area of Bandelier National Monument in order to prevent the very kind of event that took place. The Los Alamos fire exposed issues that must be addressed for managing prescribed fires. Most of the issues involve procedural gaps or a lack of clarity about how policies are to be implemented. GAO questions the timing of the Los Alamos burn, which was set at the beginning of the wildfire season, in the midst of a three-year drought, and close to populated areas. The Los Alamos fire underscores the inherent danger of introducing fire into the nation's forests, particularly in the west, to accomplish forest health or other natural resource objectives. Fire is difficult to manage, and doing it properly requires a great deal of expertise, planning, knowledge, and skill. For prescribed fires to continue to enjoy public acceptance and remain a viable tool, the lessons of this fire cannot be ignored. Although the Park Service is responsible for the burn that because the Los Alamos fire, the lessons of this catastrophe apply to all federal land management agencies with fire management responsibilities.

GAO noted that: (1) the Cerro Grande fire exposed policy implementation issues that need to be addressed for managing prescribed fires; (2) most of the issues involved procedural gaps or a lack of clarity about how policies are to be implemented; (3) these issues affected both the planning and implementation of the burn; (4) some of the issues are specific to Bandelier National Monument and the National Park Service; (5) however, others involve other federal agencies; and (6) those problems that are not site--or agency--specific raise questions about the readiness of the federal land management agencies to effectively support and administer prescribed burns as a forest management tool.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Team: Phone: