SWRA - About the Project

Fire management personnel face a complex problem that is compounded by increasing fire intensities due to the accumulation of vegetative materials, continued residential growth into wildland fire-prone areas and increasing firefighting costs. The Southern Group of State Foresters (SGSF) determined that a process is needed to assess fire threat, and related values at risk. The process should provide managers with a strategic view of the state to improve public safety and protect them from property losses like those experienced in recent severe fire occurrence years.

The Southern States recognize the problems they are facing and pooled resources to fund a region-wide risk assessment to identify areas at risk for wildland fire within each State - the Southern Wildfire Risk Assessment. The project was undertaken by the SGSF with both state and federal support including USDA Forest Service Region 8, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the National Park Service. The project is administered by the Texas Forest Service (TFS). For more information on the past and current achivements review the Summary of Achievements report.

The Southern Wildfire Risk Assessment (SWRA) project reflects the latest achievements in regional risk assessment and provides a consistent, comparable set of results as a foundation for prevention and mitigation planning. The SWRA results assist the States in allocating available resources to meet the needs of the existing wildfire situation. This will help each State to prioritize those areas where tactical analyses and community interaction or treatments might be necessary to reduce fuels and the risk from wildland fire.

The purpose of the SWRA is to identify the potential for serious fires within the South and to prioritize areas where mitigation options may be desirable. The SWRA can also be used to locate areas within the states where interagency planning may be of value to effectively manage wildland fire risk. The results can be used to complete a more detailed analysis at the local level and communicate wildland fire management issues to the public. The results of the risk assessment are used to:

	Identify those areas most prone to wildfire
	Identify and categorize Communities-at-Risk
	Identify areas where mitigation measures may be of greatest value due to wildfire threat and risk
	Facilitate communication among agencies to better define priorities and improve emergency response
	Facilitate communication with local residents to address community priorities and needs

For more information about the project data, methods, and outputs download the SWRA Final Report. Visit the Recent News page to find out about recent activities with the assessment.

The SWRA is a multi-year project to assess and quantify wildfire risk for the 13 Southern states.

The SWRA is the first comprehensive wildfire risk assessment of its kind in the nation. Spearheaded by the Southern Group of State Foresters, it is also the first cooperative effort of data collection of this magnitude in the country.

Click to view larger image

The SWRA consists of a series of GIS based layers that can be used, separately or in combination, to provide quantitative information about wildfire risk in the South.

Click to view larger image

To download a copy of the SWRA Brochure shown here visit the Project Reports page.

This site hosted by	About SWRA \| Case Studies \| Maintenance Program \| Project Reports \| Recent News \| GIS Data \| Partners