| Progress in finding solutions to the wildfire problems in this nation has been slow. The illustration below |
| provides a general view of the number of various agencies and categories of organizations that have a stake or |
| interest in wildfire issues. The primary responsibility for wildfire prevention, suppression, and control resides in |
| local, state and federal agencies that have well defined geographic boundaries of their span of control and |
| influence. None of them is budgeted or chartered to look at the whole system and implement solutions for the |
| fundamental problems that have limited their effectiveness for decades. |
| WRN has been developing a supplementary organizational concept to be chartered at the national level that can |
| be given the authority, responsibility and resources to take on the essential tasks to resolve the fundamental |
| problems currently limiting the effectiveness of the rest of the system. Existing organizations are mainly |
| operational entities which would continue their current roles but be assisted by the new organization. The new |
| organization (currently identified as the National Wildfire Research Institute, NWRI) would be responsible to |
| provide viable new equipment that would overcome the currently unresolved fundamental problems, etc. |
|
| As currently envisioned, the NWRI charter would provide it with the authority to fulfill the role of performing |
| the integrating, prioritizing, technology development, research and information dissemination, and resource |
| allocation functions missing from the current wildfire fighting system. The organization would be established at |
| the national level with a board of directors representing all levels of stakeholders. The organization's objectives |
| include the following: |
|
| 1) Raise wildland fire problem to a higher level of national attention and funding. |
| 2) Provide the necessary research to resolve major long standing universal problems. |
| 3) Avoid wasteful duplication and speed up innovation and employment of promising |
| suppression/control concepts. |
| 4) Provide enough concentrated, steady resources and support to assure high quality results. |
| 5) Provide a formal, scientific channel for resolving the sometimes conflicting needs |
| of different cultural/environmental concerns. |
|
| WRN is engaged in expanding the definition of the NWRI concept and reviewing it with the wildfire |
| firefighting community to refine it prior to formal presentation to the U.S. government for implementation. |
