Response needed by March 1, 2024
Attention Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANSCA) partners in land management. The BLM Alaska Fire Service is seeking input from Alaska village corporations located in its protection area while conducting an annual review of management options for wildfire response. To ensure these changes are implemented before the fire season kicks in, please notify BLM AFS Zone contacts of your plans by March 1, 2024.
In Alaska, jurisdictional and protection agencies prioritize their initial response to new fires based on predetermined options and available firefighting resources. Standard wildfire response ranges from aggressive to monitor (Critical, Full, Modified and Limited) as explained in the Alaska Interagency Wildland Fire Management Plan. Management option designations are intended to be flexible. The default initial response will not be appropriate for every fire and may be overridden based on incident-specific considerations such as existing and predicted weather, and resource availability.
Critical: the highest priority for suppression actions and assignment of avilable firefighting resources.
Full: high priority for suppression actions and assignment of available firefighting resources but are below wildfires within or threatening Critical areas or sites.
Modified: Before the conversion date, fire will receive priority for allocation of initial action forces after fires in Critical or Full Areas. After conversion date, fires will receive same response as fires in Limited areas.
Limited fires are assigned the lowest resource allocation priority.
Click on buttons for more explanation on Management Options
Public and firefighter safety is always the top priority. When fires threaten people, communities and homes, they are fought aggressively. But Alaska is huge, and fire managers use different strategies to protect people and homes, while preserving and enhancing the health of forests and wetlands. Wildland fire is an essential, natural process in the boreal forest and tundra landscapes. Alaska’s boreal forests and wildlife populations must have fire to survive and thrive. Fires maintain diversity in vegetation and wildlife habitat.
Land and fire managers consistently weigh the long-term effects of fire suppression on ecosystem sustainability against the necessary response to address immediate concerns, threats to communities, and public health issues.
As one of the three protection agencies in Alaska, BLM AFS provides wildfire suppression response to around 80 village corporations three of its Fire Management Zones – the Galena Zone, the Tanana Zone and the Upper Yukon Zone.
The Alaska Interagency Fire Management Plan mandates an annual review of fire management option boundaries and protection levels. While boundaries have been steady, it’s time to consider potential changes.
Packets of information including maps were mailed and emailed to individual ANSCA corporations.
Included are sections of the Plan that explain the Fire Management options and the change procedures.
Click on maps to help determine which Zone your corporation falls under and for contact information for zone fire managers.
Categories: AK Fire Info, BLM Alaska Fire Service
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 