Urban Wildland Interface Communities Within the Vicinity of Federal Lands That Are at High Risk From Wildfire

This notice provides an initial list of urban wildland interface communities in the vicinity of Federal lands that are at high risk from wildfire. The list, compiled from information provided by States and Tribes, and prepared for publication by the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior, responds to Congressional direction to identify communities within the vicinity of Federal lands that are at high risk from wildfire, and publish a list of these communities in the Federal Register. States and Tribes used different criteria for selecting communities at risk. This initial list of communities is incomplete, and will be updated as additional information from the States and Tribes becomes available. The information included in the list has not been altered by the Federal agencies. Pursuant to direction from Congress, the lists submitted by States and Tribes have been annotated by the Secretaries to identify communities around which hazardous fuel reduction treatments on Federal lands are ongoing or are planned to begin in fiscal year 2001. The Secretaries will continue to work with States, Tribes, local governments, and other interested parties to focus fuel reduction efforts on those communities at highest risk. This notice also provides the Federal Government's initial definition of urban wildland interface communities at high risk from wildfire, and preliminary criteria for risk evaluation and risk management that will be used by the Secretaries to rank and prioritize communities and focus implementation of fuels treatments to most effectively reduce risks. Interested members of the public may also provide additional thoughts on the list of communities, the initial definition of wildland-urban interface areas, and the preliminary criteria for risk evaluation and risk management included in this notice via the National Interagency Fire Center web page at http:// www.nifc.gov. As a result of these suggestions, the Federal agencies will work with Tribes, States, local governments, and other interested parties to refine and narrow the initial list of communities provided in this notice, focusing on those that are at highest risk.