EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Interagency Fire Management Plans (IFMPs) for thirteen geographic areas of the state were prepared under the oversight of the Alaska Interagency Fire Management Council between 1980 and 1988 to provide a coordinated and cost effective approach to fire management on all lands in Alaska. All fire management decisions by land manager/owner(s) are based on values warranting protection, protection capabilities, firefighter safety and/or land and resource management needs. Before the IFMPs, existing policy required the immediate suppression of all wildfires. This policy was costly, of questionable effectiveness, and had a negative effect on the diversity and productivity of the fire-dependent ecosystems in some regions [...]
