§6511 Definitions

Summary

Defines key words used for wildfire planning and fuel-reduction work on federal and nearby lands. It explains what counts as an at-risk community, what fuel-reduction projects are allowed, how community plans should work, how land is rated for fire risk, what official documents and time rules mean, and what the wildland-urban interface is. At-risk community: an area that is either the kind of interface community named in the January 4, 2001 federal notice or a cluster of homes and basic services next to federal land, where conditions could allow a large wildfire and people or property face a serious threat. Authorized hazardous fuel reduction project: the methods named in the Implementation Plan glossary (May 2002) used on the federal lands covered by this law, including fuel breaks and firebreaks. Community wildfire protection plan: a locally agreed plan, made with federal managers, that names and ranks places to treat fuels, says what methods to use on federal and nonfederal land to protect one or more at-risk communities and vital infrastructure, and suggests ways to make buildings less likely to burn. Condition class 2: federal land where fire patterns and vegetation have been moderately changed from historical norms, as described in RMRS–87 (April 2000). Condition class 3: federal land where fire patterns and vegetation have been significantly changed from historical norms, as described in RMRS–87 (April 2000). Day: a calendar day, or if a deadline falls on a nonbusiness day, the end of the next business day. Decision document: a Forest Service decision notice, a BLM decision record, or a record of decision under the Council on Environmental Quality rules. Fire regime I: area with historically low-severity fires every 0–35 years, mainly low-elevation pine, oak, or pinyon-juniper. Fire regime II: area with stand-replacing fires every 0–35 years, mainly low- to mid-elevation rangeland, grassland, or shrubland. Fire regime III: area with mixed-severity fires every 35–100 years, mainly mixed-conifer, dry Douglas fir, or wet Ponderosa pine. Implementation Plan: the May 2002 Implementation Plan for the national collaborative wildfire strategy (and later revisions). Municipal water supply system: reservoirs, canals, pipes, and other surface works used to collect, store, or move drinking water. Resource management plan: a land and resource plan for National Forest units or a land use plan for public lands. Secretary: the Secretary of Agriculture for National Forest lands and the Secretary of the Interior for public lands. Threatened and endangered species habitat: federal land identified in a species listing, a critical habitat designation, or a recovery plan under the Endangered Species Act. Wildland-urban interface: land near or next to an at-risk community as identified in a community plan, or—if there is no plan—land within ½ mile of the community, land within 1½ miles that has steep slopes, helpful geographic firebreaks, or is in condition class 3, or land next to an evacuation route that needs fuel reduction.