By JAMES RONALD SKAINS
Journal Correspondent

"Wildland Urban Interface" is a Washington, DC-coined phrase that is the centerpiece of both the U.S. Forest Service and Department of Interior's mammoth fire prevention plan that was showcased at the National Fire Plan Conference in New Orleans on January 14 and 15.

U.S. Secretary of Interior Gale Norton, sporting a pair of Smoky the Bear earrings, told those attending the Fire Conference that, "the key to our National Fire Plan is cooperation between the Federal agencies and volunteerism in the private sector." Norton, noting the catastrophic fires of last fire season in her home state of Colorado, stated, "We have 190 million acres of forest land that is at risk of a major fire."

"Both the Colorado fires of last summer damaged the water supply of major cities in the area," Norton pointed out. "The Missionary Ridge fire damaged the water supply to Durango, and the huge Haymon fire disrupted the city of Denver's water supply."

"The major issue is that there are too many unhealthy trees in our national forests and national park lands," Norton explained. "We can't stop the fires from starting, but we can limit their growth by reducing available fuels through various means, including mechanical thinning. Our administration wants to leave a legacy of reducing catastrophic fires."

Those attending the New Orleans fire conference from around the country were greeted with a letter in their information packet from President George W. Bush, who said, "America faced a devastating wildfire season last summer. Fires in our overgrown forests destroyed communities and many wildlife habitats. To reduce the threat of these catastrophic fires and to restore the health of our forests, we must continue to improve forest and rangeland management. In August, 2002 I launched the Healthy Forest Initiative to strengthen our environment by thinning dangerous overgrowth and quickly restoring fire-damaged areas to prevent erosion. Through these forest policies we can reduce the risk that wildfires pose to our communities, municipal watershed, and the environment and preserve our national treasures for future generations."

Secretary Norton later stated emphatically in her speech to those in attendance, "President George W. Bush does not think there is anything wrong with people earning a living from good forest management."

Also in her speech to the Fire Conference, Norton pointed out, "We believe that our Forest Stewardship program will work. We are looking to make long term contacts with those who will maintain our forest land. Healthy forest land equals thriving communities."

Later, in an interview with The Piney Woods Journal, Secretary Norton was asked, "Out here in the real world, sawmills, plywood mills, loggers, and other forest product manufacturers are going out of business and bankrupt by the dozens each month because of imported forest products. How is this new large influx of timber going to affect an already depressed and saturated market?"

Secretary Norton responded immediately to the Journal's question with a laugh. "By out here in the real world, you must mean outside of Washington, DC."

"We actually don't know what the influx of logs and pulp from Federal forest lands will do to the market," Secretary Norton said. "We are doing a market impact study on this problem."

The Journal also asked the Secretary of the Interior who is the point person for the Bush administration's National Fire Plan. "Back home in the Piney Woods in North Louisiana, you can buy lumber manufactured in Europe as cheap or cheaper than you can buy lumber manufactured from trees grown locally. How can this be?"

The Secretary responded slowly, "We don't really know the answer to this." In April 2002, the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior through a Memorandum of Understanding created the Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WLFA). The purpose of the Council is to support the implementation and coordination of the National Fire Plan and the Federal Wildland Fire Management Plan.

In layman's terms, the secretary explained further the meaning of the Wildland Urban Interface Program. "On U.S. Forest Service and Department of Interior land, near populated areas we are going to reduce the fuel level for a fire by mechanical thinning, removing the brush through contract work, and other feasible methods.

"Also, our Fire Plan will increase federal funding for local volunteer fire departments and other state and local agencies who are on the first response teams to a fire," Secretary Norton explained. "We are dedicated to getting everyone involved, including volunteers, because we are working for a common goal of fire prevention and then if necessary a quick successful fire response to a fire."

The second annual National Fire Plan conference, named "Success Through Local Collaboration," was well attended by people from all over the United States. The second conference was the setting for presentation of the first-ever National Fire Plan awards. Some two dozen individuals and groups received Fire Plan awards at the conference, held at the Sheraton Hotel on Canal Street.

Other notables in attendance in addition to Secretary Norton were Secretary Lynn Scarlett; U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth; Mark Rey, Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment, USDA; New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin; Louisiana State Forester Paul Frey; Tim Hartzell, director, Office of Wildland Fire Coordination, Dept. of Interior; and Corbin Newman, Coordinator, National Fire Plan, USDA Forest Service.

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