Abstract:
The U.S. Forest Service is facing unprecedented challenges in wildfire suppression, and increasingly depends on private wildfire suppression to bolster capacity for direct attack resources, such as aerial resources, firefighter hand crews and other equipment. The processes and procedures employed for contracting such resources are complex and can be difficult to follow and understand. The purpose of this paper is to provide a clear and step-wise presentation of the private contracting system for wildfire suppression on federal lands, highlighting the key actors, actions, policies and procedures used throughout.