Joint Fire Science Program

 

This program continues to advance the Administrations priorities to to prioritize efforts to reduce climate pollution; support climate resilience; support land conservation and biodiversity efforts, including the 30 by 30 initiative; maximize clean energy development and deployment. This program also provides support under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Section 40803 Wildfire Risk Reduction. The Joint Fire Science Program encourages interested parties to perform research and studies pertaining to wildland fire and resource management, to enhance decision-making ability of fire, fuels, natural resource, and land managers and others to meet management objectives. This program solicits research and science delivery proposals that respond to its announcements for proposals that seek information on critical wildland fire and fuels issues, as well as related issues of post-fire recovery, smoke management, and the human dimensions of fire.

Active 15.232 Bureau of Land Management, Department of The Interior B - Project Grants Fiscal Year 2016 No current data available. Program accomplishments provided new information and tools to improve decision-making in wildland fire management. Program accomplishments include studies that benefit fire and resource management programs both directly and through the inherently interagency nature of many of the related projects. Projects have had direct benefit to, among others, fire management, Predictive Services, meteorologists, fuels analysts, intelligence officers, fire behavior analysts, fire specialists, fire planners, resource managers and State and local government leaders. Specific accomplishments include social barriers to implement prescribed fires and maintenance and restoration of sagebrush habitat. For the Joint Fire Science Program, the continued support of the regional consortia projects and the Fire and Smoke Model Evaluation Experiment (FASMEE) project.
Fiscal Year 2017 No current data available.
Fiscal Year 2018 JFSP Project 14-2-01-29 Fire-Adapted Communities on the Range: Alternative Models of Wildfire Response. This project contributed new knowledge about a model of community-based fire management that is growing in popularity and increasingly viewed as a crucial, front-line strategy for protecting sage-grouse habitat and the ranching industry (e.g., in state-level sage-grouse conservation efforts and the 2015 Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy). We successfully helped characterize and identify the strengths and weaknesses of the RFPA model such that existing programs may be improved and future programs may benefit from lessons learned. Other community-based fire management strategies are also growing across the country, including prescribed burn councils and associations, and public interest in better wildfire suppression is at an historic high following the 2017 wildfire season. The primary implication for management and practice is that such community-based approaches can offer significant assets to mitigation and suppression efforts, particularly in “working lands” communities, but challenges to the integration of informal and formal organizations must be proactively recognized and managed. Policy makers and managers should also consider how statutory basis, program design, and state agency roles shape community participation and community-agency relationships. JFSP Project 16-2-01-9 Towards improved quantification and prediction of post-fire recovery in conifers. The benefits of this research include improved quantification of landscape-scale burn severity through biometrics such as net photosynthesis/net primary productivity, and predictive models that will help land managers with prescribed- and wild-fire planning. For example, the data produced from this quantification could serve as the basis for quantitative vulnerability maps for land managers (Smith et al. 2014) by identifying less vigorous stands that may be susceptible to secondary mortality (such as insects and disease). This work builds upon completed and ongoing laboratory research (Sparks et al. 2016, in review), and investigates 5 relationships between increasing doses of fire radiative flux metrics (FRFD, FRED) with growth and physiological metrics including leaf net photosynthesis. This data will provide the foundation for future models of tree mortality and surviving tree vigor. As FRE is strongly correlated with total energy release from a fire (Freeborn et al. 2008), these models could be incorporated with the energy release component (ERC, units: Btu ft-2 ), a National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) output that calculates the potential energy per unit area based on fuel load and live/dead fuel moisture, to help predict future fire effects such as tree mortality. Ultimately, the expected benefits will help address the JFSP “post-fire recovery” topic area by improving: 1) our understanding of physiological changes in trees post-fire based on fire intensity metrics, and 2) our ability to quantify burn severity at landscape scales.
Fiscal Year 2019 Data not available
Fiscal Year 2020 JFSP funded 32 GRIN projects that support graduate students to enhance interaction with fire and fuels managers. Funded four projects to assess fuel breaks and fuel break systems, and funded three to reduce damages and losses to valued resources. The JFSP funds and provides oversight to a national collaborative of 15 regional wildland fire science exchanges: the Fire Science Exchange Network (FSEN). The FSEN provides the most relevant, current wildland fire science information to federal, state, local, tribal, and private stakeholders within ecologically similar regions. In Fiscal Year 2020 JFSP funded three FSEN projects via cooperative agreement.
Fiscal Year 2021 JFSP projects are focused on continued support for the Fire Science Exchange Network (FSEN) and we anticipate funding four FSEN projects. The program will continue to fund graduate students through the Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN) program and anticipate funding 12 GRIN projects. JFSP research is focused on two main research areas. Sources and distribution of human-caused ignitions and their impacts on wildfire and reducing damages and losses to valued resources from wildfire. We anticipate funding five proposals in these two topic areas.
Fiscal Year 2023 JFSP will be focused on continued support for the Fire Science Exchange Network (FSEN) and the Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN) program. Research focus areas will be longevity of fuel treatment effectiveness under climate change, fuels treatment effectiveness across landscapes, pre-fire management actions for reducing post-fire hazards, and social factors that influence fire suppression and rehabilitation costs.
Fiscal Year 2024 Unknown at this time. Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, Public Law 94-579, 43 U.S.C. §1737 (b)
Implementation provisions. (b) Contracts and cooperative agreements. Subject to the provisions of applicable law, the Secretary may enter into contracts and cooperative agreements involving the management, protection, development, and sale of public lands. Anyone/General Public. Anyone/General Public. Not applicable. Preapplication coordination is required. An environmental impact statement is required for this listing. An environmental impact assessment is required for this listing. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. A Standard Form 424, Application for Federal Assistance, Standard Form 424A, Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs, Standard Form 424B, Assurances for Non-Construction Programs, and a written proposal, budget spreadsheet, a budget narrative/breakdown, and any other requirements specified in the Notice of Funding Opportunity Notice and must be submitted through www.grants.gov. State plan is not required for this application. Projects are reviewed at the National and State level and funding recommendations are made through National and State's annual work plan. Final budget approvals rest with the National Office and State Director. For the Joint Fire Science Program all applications are peer-reviewed. The twelve person Joint Fire Science Program Governing Board will analyze peer review comments and make all funding decisions. Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines Award time varies depending on the type and complexity of the project. Further information will be available for each project at the time the Notice of Funding Opportunity is posted on www.grants.gov and may be obtained by contacting the point of contact listed in the funding opportunity announcement. Most awards are anticipated within 90 days or less after the announcement closes. Final award decisions are not subject to appeal; however, the Bureau of Land Management will provide all applicants with information on why their proposal was not selected for award. Not applicable. Proposals are peer-reviewed. The twelve person Joint Fire Science Program Governing Board will analyze peer review comments and make all funding decisions. General criteria used to select assistance proposals are based on their direct relationship to federal wildland fire management, qualifications of principal investigator and institution, and a balanced review including relevance to program objectives, merit and cost effectiveness. Joint Fire Science Program proposals will be reviewed for relevancy in relation to the posted announcement for proposals task statement, scientific methods and study design, science deliverables, collaboration/leverage, and administrative adequacy. Successful proposals will provide a strong science delivery and application plan that clearly demonstrates the use of both passive and active technology transfer methods. Funds may be used for approved projects that address wildland fire management needs of federal and local government land managers. Performance Reports: Shall submit at the minimum an annual Performance Report in accordance with the 2 CFR, Part 200.328 within 90 days after the anniversary date or as indicated in the Notice of Award. Upon completion of the agreement, recipients shall submit a final report no later than 120 calendar day after the award end date. Not applicable. All recipients of Federal awards shall maintain project records in accordance with 2 CFR 200.333 Retention requirements for records. Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other non-Federal entity records pertinent to a Federal award must be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report or, for Federal awards that are renewed quarterly or annually, from the date of the submission of the quarterly or annual financial report, respectively, as reported to the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity in the case of a subrecipient. Federal awarding agencies and pass-through entities must not impose any other record retention requirements upon non-Federal entities, except as noted in 2 CFR 200.333. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. Projects are generally funded for no more than three years. Most projects funded are awarded in one lump sum at the start of the project; however some projects are funded year-by-year. Frequency of recipient payments will be determined for each awarded assistance agreement at time of award. See Catalog Appendix IV for addresses of BLM State Offices. Joint Fire Science Program
3833 S. Development Avenue
Boise, ID 83706 US
chaskell@blm.gov
Phone: 208-387-5975 https://www.firescience.gov/index.cfm 14-1125-0-1-011 (Cooperative Agreements (Discretionary Grants)) FY 22$1,211,897.00; FY 23 est $5,675,972.00; FY 24 est $5,000,000.00; FY 20$4,287,160.00; FY 21 est $3,200,000.00; FY 19$834,175.00; FY 18$1,465,000.00; FY 17$5,374,206.00; FY 16$5,097,369.00; - For the Joint Fire Science Program awards range from $25,000 to $500,000. Average amounts are $350,000 or less for research projects and $25,000 or less for Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN) projects. Joint Fire Science information, including announcements for proposals, project information, and literature can be found at website www.firescience.gov/. Fiscal Year 2016 No current data available. JFSP will be focusing on fuels treatments in Wildland Urban Interface, smoke and black carbon, and fuel moisture influences.
Fiscal Year 2017 Program accomplishments provided new information and tools to improve decision-making in wildland fire management. Program accomplishments include studies that benefit fire and resource management programs both directly and through the inherently interagency nature of many of the related projects. Projects have had direct benefit to, among others, fire management, Predictive Services, meteorologists, fuels analysts, intelligence officers, fire behavior analysts, fire specialists, fire planners, resource managers and State and local government leaders. JFSP specific accomplishments include conducting an external program review to assess current operations and strategic direction of the program. The program continues to support the Fire Science Exchange Network and the Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN) Awards.
Fiscal Year 2018 Roles of pre-fire vegetation, soil, and climate in Great Basin ecosystem recovery. Impact of unburned remnant sagebrush versus outplants on post-fire landscape rehabilitation. Impacts of burn severity, microclimate, and soil properties on initial post-fire tree regeneration.
Fiscal Year 2019 NIFC Fire Science Exchange Networks -a inter-agency partnership for the Great Plains Fire Science Exchange, which is one of 15 regional exchanges within the Fire Science Exchange Network (FSEN). The network brings together wildland fire, fuel, natural resource, land managers, practitioners, and scientists to address local, regional, and national wildland fire management needs and challenges through translation and delivery of the best and latest available science. STARFire Spatial Fire Management Planning for Selected BLM Units - use STARFire to evaluate the BLM Idaho fire program and provide outputs that will be used to assess risk of wildfire incidents and advise future budget allocations decisions within the state. STARFire uses geospatial analysis to assess communities and ecosystems at risk from catastrophic wildfire by analyzing over 211 ecological variables on a statewide scale. Central OR Live Fuel Moisture Monitoring Project - to track fuel moisture patterns through sampling and analysis of live fuels from the wet season through the dry season in order to provide information to land managers from multiple jurisdictions.
Fiscal Year 2020 JFSP research focus was on assessing fuel breaks and fuel break systems and reducing damages and losses to valued resources. Examples of projects funded are: Assessment of fuel break performance: fire risk, ecology, and economy and Evaluating fuel treatment efficacy in reducing risk of high-severity fire and downstream impacts.
Fiscal Year 2021 In FY21 JFSP focused on Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN), the Fire Science Exchange Network (FSEN) and science topics related to Sources and distribution of human-caused ignitions and their relations to wildfire impacts, and Reducing damages and losses to valued resources from Wildfire.
Fiscal Year 2023 In FY23 Joint Fire Science Program focused on Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN), the Fire Science Exchange Network (FSEN) and science topics related to longevity of fuel treatment effectiveness under climate change, fuels treatment effectiveness across landscapes, pre-fire management actions for reducing post-fire hazards, and social factors that influence fire suppression and rehabilitation costs.
Fiscal Year 2024 Projects are unknown at this time.