February 2008

Understanding the System: - This is the fifth in a series of newsletters that walk readers through the components of the FPA system flow.

FPA System Flow Diagram

FPA flow diagram, goal programming

Current Topics:

Touring the FPA System
Spring Workshops
Web Updates
FPA List Service
What is FPA?
FPU Prototype Testing
What's Next?

For more information visit http://fpa.nifc.gov
or call Venetia Gempler
208-947-3786


 

Fire Program Analysis

Fire Program Analysis (FPA) system is a common interagency decision support tool for wildland fire planning and budgeting.
This tool will enable wildland fire managers in the five federal land management agencies to plan jointly.

 

The Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC) is a cooperative interagency organization dedicated to achieving consistent implementation of the goals, actions, and policies in the National Fire Plan and the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy. The Council provides leadership and oversight to ensure policy coordination, accountability, and effective implementation of the National Fire Plan and the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy.


The FPA System:
 will be designed to encourage state, local, and tribal agency participation.
incorporates geospatial data which provide the means to map levels of wildland fire risk on lands across the country.
 generates outcomes from fire planning units that
provide information to the national budget planning process.
 will provide a way for land managers to compare
trade-offs between wildland fire program components.

is a tool to ensure wildland fire management actions help meet performance measures outlined in the 10-Year Comprehensive Strategy.

Touring the FPA System - Last month the newsletter described calculating Performance Measures. To recap, the Performance Measure calculator processes outputs from Initial Response and Large Fire modules. Those results quantify the performance for FPUs' investment alternatives and are submitted for interagency reviews. The reviewed alternatives are sent forward to be included in developing the national budget recommendations based on analysis in the National Goal Programming process.

National Goal Programming is used by agency managers to assess trade-offs between investment alternatives at different proposed budget levels. Investment alternatives submitted by all FPUs are evaluated in terms of associated cost to achieve agency fire management goals.

Spring Workshops: Spring workshops are being planned and coordinated with each of FPA's Geographic Area Leads. The workshops will be an orientation to the new FPA system and provide an opportunity to ask the FPA team questions and learn how to prepare information for FPA implementation.

Fire planners, fire management officers, and line officers are encouraged to attend. The workshops will begin in April with most of the Geographic Areas participating by mid-May. Tentative dates and locations have been chosen. As more details are confirmed schedules will be announced.

Week of April 1 - Northwest Geographic Area – Portland
Week of April 21 - Northern Rockies Geographic Area - Denver or Casper
Week of April 28 - Great Basin Geographic Area – Reno
Week of April 28 - Southern Area Geographic Area - Atlanta
Week of May 5 - California Geographic Area – Sacramento
Week of May 5 - Southwest Geographic Area - Albuquerque and Phoenix
Week of May 12 - Northern Rockies Geographic Area – Bozeman

Web updates: Visit the FPA web site for the latest information regarding system development and implementation. The web site features include updated white and technical papers that contain system explanations and instructions; TechNews, monthly newsletters, quarterly reports, and management guidance and direction. For technical information such as Geographic Information System (GIS) information look on the left side of the web page under Implementation-Data Management, or click on the GIS link above. A new Fire Planning Unit Map has also been posted to the web site that should be easier to download and print.

FPA List Service: To get the latest information deposited directly into your inbox, subscribe to the FPA list service. As the system becomes more complete and stable those subscribing to the service may see an increase in e-mails. We will only forward pertinent information.

What is FPA? FPA is a decision support tool. It helps the interagency FPUs build and evaluate preparedness and fuel treatment options. Following interagency guidance the results from each FPU are analyzed nationally to display a suite of investment alternatives and the trade-offs between them.

FPA isn't a computer program that calculates a budget answer. It is a tool local planners use to analyze how well investment alternatives meet land management plan objectives at different budget levels.

FPA's June 2008 release will give FPU planners and fire budget managers the ability to build budget strategies that are performance driven and based on fire behavior. FPA will mature as users provide feedback to meet their needs in subsequent budget planning years.

FPU Prototype Testing: In recent months the seven FPU prototypes have been testing different components of the system's modules. Iterative testing builds on each release as system functionality is added.
Testing examples include:

  • The FPA system User Interface tests:
    Is it intuitive? Are the appropriate pull down menus present and are they functioning properly?
  • Initial Response Simulator tests:
    Is the module appropriately simulating the delivery of firefighters via helicopters as individuals and not by crews? Are the appropriate delay times and calculation of travel times working?     Are fire resources producing the appropriate fire line?
  • Large Fire Module tests:
    Do the burn probabilities and Fire Intensity Level (FIL) distributions appropriately reflect the current landscape conditions?

What's Next?