June 2007

FPA Business Lead for the Department of the Interior (DOI) - The FPA Project is pleased to announce that Ms. Jaymee Fojtik was selected as the Department of the Interior (DOI) Business Lead. Jaymee will begin her new role on July 8th. She comes to the project from Atlanta, Georgia where she has served in the US Fish & Wildlife Service's Regional Fire Management Program. During that period, Jaymee was also the Southeast Geographic Area Lead for FPA.

As the DOI Business Lead, Jaymee will join her Forest Service counterpart, Bonnie Wood, in leadership roles providing advice and guidance related to the agencies' business needs as FPA is developed. The Business Leads will be working closely with Line Officers, Fire Management Officers and Regional Budget Planners to ensure FPA meets the business needs of all five land management agencies.

Current Topics:

DOI Business Lead    
The "Evolving" FPA Story
FPA Jeopardy (Glossary)
May Prototype Workshop
 FPU Boundary Update
 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.


The Evolving "FPA Story"
The FPA process begins with each interagency FPU developing a series of investment alternatives which they use to run through the Initial Response Simulation module. The data from fires that exceed initial attack move into the Large Fire module. The results from these modules feed into a Bayesian Decision Network tool that managers can use to evaluate which alternative, for the investment, best meets the FPU's land management objectives and performance measures.

Do you have this burning desire to play FPA Jeopardy?
What is a Bayesian Decision Network? What are FWAs? Can you describe a Dispatch Location? Or, are just looking for new term definitions? The new updated FPA glossary has been posted at www.nifc.fpa.gov .

Expect the glossary to change periodically as new terms are added or updated! Also, If you have a term you would like to add or need to have one clarified please contact us at: FPA Contact

May Prototype Workshop - Partners from the seven Fire Planning Units (FPUs) for FPA met in Boise to evaluate the progress of the FPA prototype and learn more about the Large Fire Module, how fuels data will be incorporated, and the Bayesian Decision Network.

For the participating FPUs this workshop was one of several opportunities to get together with the FPA team and share their prototype development and testing experiences and concerns.

For the FPA team it was the opportunity to work collectively with all the FPUs to build multiple investment alternatives, test the complete Initial Response Simulation module, collect feedback about the IRS function and results, and gather advice for additional system components.

FPU Participants rolled up their sleeves and jointly developed alternatives based on their land management plans, then successfully ran the IRS module for multiple investment alternatives. They were impressed with the Initial Response Simulation results.

There was a lot of interest surrounding the new Large Fire Module and how fuels data will be collected and input. Discussions included:

  • Benefits of small fuel treatments
  • Benefits of maintenance treatments that promote ecosystem health
  • Importance and currency of fuels information that feeds the model

Concerns on these were shared by all the FPUs and further work will be done with the Interagency Science Team and the FPA development team to address them.

The workshop was an opportunity to hear from FPA prototype development partners and to use the FPUs as a sounding board. Input from these FPUs is critical and their participation has led to the successful development of the FPA proof-of-concept prototype.

To Change or not to Change, It is Your FPU's Decision!.
In April, 2006 at the After Action Review, FPA Geographic Area leads recommended developing consistent guidelines for FPUs to follow if they choose to change their boundaries. Changing FPU boundaries is not required and should only be considered if the FPU partners are not satisfied with the existing boundaries.

The FPA Implementation Coordination Group is working with Subject Matter Experts representing the Geographic Areas, to review the existing FPU boundary guidance. The goal is to update the guidelines by October, 2007 for FPUs to use in reviewing and implementing any desired boundary changes, prior to the FY 2008 release of FPA.

What's Next?

  • Decision from the WFLC regarding future FPA development
  • Focus on how FPA's Large Fire module works