Forest service large fire area burned and suppression expenditure trends, 1970-2002

Abstract

Extreme fire seasons in recent years and associated high suppression expenditures have brought about a chorus of calls for reform of federal firefighting structure and policy. Given the political nature of the topic, a critical review of past trends in area burned, size of fires, and suppression expenditures is warranted. We examined data relating to emergency wildland fire suppression expenditures, number of fires, and acres burned and developed statistical models to estimate area burned using drought indices for the USDA Forest Service from 1970-2002.