Cooperative Fire Protection 
The RPA high bound is aimed at development 
of economically efficient State wildland _fire- 
protection programs, improved efficiency through 
cooperation among States, and improved efficiency 
among States and Federal agencies. This approach 
was made possible by development of two new 
management systems: the Fire Management Analy- 
sis System, and the National Interagency Incident 
Management System. The Fire Management Analy- 
sis System applies economics to fire planning, fire 
suppression, and mobile suppression forces and 
permits assessment of efficiency. The National In- 
teragency Incident Management System enables 
cooperating agencies to exchange suppression re- 
sources and to resolve jurisdictional and policy is- 
sues before fire crises. 
Cooperative fire protection at the high bound is 
intended to be commensurate with the value of nat- 
ural resources and products that could be dam- 
aged or destroyed by fire. The activities showing the 
greatest national benefit will receive highest priority. 
The Federal share of this funding will remain at 5 
percent over the planning period. 
At the RPA low bound, Forest Service involve- 
ment in the development of an efficient State fire- 
protection program will be lessened. Financial as- 
sistance to the States will be eliminated, and local 
units must be relied upon to fulfill their own fire- 
protection responsiblities. Less emphasis is placed 
on capturing the collective efficiency of all units in- 
volved in fire protection. Low-bound funding in the 
1987-90 period will limit the Federal role to providing 
focus on critical issues and specialized technical 
assistance. After 1990, this activity will be increased 
commensurate with the increasing value of natural 
resources and products protected. 
Cooperative Forest Pest Management 
The RPA high bound for pest management will 
increase funds for survey and technical assistance 
by 1990 but reduce suppression funding. The high 
bound provides for funding the States under the 
Cooperative Pest Action Program to support pest 
management activities essential to the Federal Gov- 
ernment. It also includes technical assistance from 
Federal specialists over the entire planning period. 
Federal cost sharing for suppression on non- 
Federal lands will be limited to 25 percent by the 
year 2000 and discontinued after 2015. 
58 
The low-bound funding in the 1987-90 period 
will permit the Federal Government to purchase 
State-collected data on forest pest conditions to 
make national assessments. The Cooperative Pest 
Action program is eliminated at the low bound; no 
Federal technical assistance will be provided before 
1993, and only limited assistance will be provided 
after that time. Federal funding for suppression on 
non-Federal lands will be discontinued, except on 
private lands intermingled with Federal lands, when 
necessary to protect the Federal lands. 
Proposed Protection Policy 
and Programs 
Proposed protection should be based upon, 
and developed within, the management objectives 
for a forest. Protection activities must respond effi- 
ciently to direction developed to meet specific re- 
source management objectives. Protection must be 
appropriate from the perspective of positive and 
negative effects that fire and pests may have on 
various resources and their outputs, the cost of im- 
plementation, the values involved, and the probabil- 
ities of impacts on those values. Efficient protection 
programs meet management objectives and over 
time minimize total cost plus net change in resource 
values. 
The integration of protection and resource man- 
agement requires that planned resource objectives 
realistically reflect both the constraints and opportu- 
nities that the fire and pest programs impose and 
provide. Proposed resource management pro- 
grams and their outputs must be evaluated in terms 
of potential impacts from fire and pests. The level 
and cost of protection required to reasonably en- 
sure those outputs should be identified. 
Protection programs should provide an accu- 
rate view of the probable risks from fire, insects, and 
diseases. Protection should be commensurate with 
the probability of loss and with the efficiencies that 
can be achieved by preplanned, collective action of 
the private sector and the local, State, and Federal 
Governments. 
A coordinated Federal/State/local response to 
fire protection will be essential. Successful coopera- 
tive efforts like the National Interagency Incident 
Management System and its training, equipment, 
and management standards make it possible for 
many organizations to come together to manage 
major fires and other incidents. 
