Wildland Fire Use
From BWCAWiki
The term Wildland Fire Use (WFU) refers to a forest fire management plan currently used by the U.S. Forest Service. WFUs allow for natural burning of vegetation in remote areas, which reduces suppression costs and benefits the ecosystem.
Application
In order for a fire to be designated as a Wildland Fire Use, it must meet the following criteria:
- The fire must be natural; a human-caused wildfire does not qualify as a WFU.
- It must not threaten human life or property. WFUs are only used in remote areas such as wildernesses and roadless areas.
- The Forest Service must have a pre-existing Fire Management Plan for the area in question.
- The fire must fall within the prescription of the Fire Management Plan so as to be of long-term benefit to the forest health and ecosystem. Conditions such as weather, presence of blowdown fuels, and specific location all factor into this decision.
Use in the BWCAW
The Superior National Forest generally designates fires as WFUs that are not likely to burn up to or beyond the boundary of the BWCAW. This means that a fire within the blowdown, large fires, or fires during extremely hot, windy weather have less chance of being a WFU.
The Turtle Lake Fire of 2006 is an example of a WFU in the Boundary Waters, while the Alpine Lake Fire of 2005 failed to meet the second criteria and the Sag Corridor Fire of 1995 failed the first two criteria.
References
- Wildland Fire Use: An Essential Fire Management Tool (pdf), The Wilderness Society, 2004.
