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The national database of state and local wildfire hazard mitigation programs
serves as a clearinghouse of information about nonfederal policies and
programs that seek to reduce the risk of loss of life and property through
the reduction of hazardous fuels on private lands. If
you would like to submit a program to the national wildfire programs database,
please complete the following form (MS
Word).
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Title: |
New Jersey Forest Fire Service Statewide Program
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Type: |
Fuelbreaks
Education
Designation of high risk areas
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Jurisdiction: |
State
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State: |
New Jersey
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Program Description: |
The Situation
New Jersey is the most densely populated of the 50 states, with an average population of over 1000 people per square mile. With 40% of the state in commercial forest land and another 13% in parks, recreation areas and watershed areas, over 50% of the state is either forest land or open space. Statewide there are 187 municipalities in 19 counties that are located within wildland/urban interface areas and are at risk from catastrophic wildfires.
The forest land of central and south New Jersey is predominately "Pine Barrens", a scrub pine ecosystem which is fire dependent. The Pinelands are classified as Fuel Model B of the National Fire Danger Rating Sytem, equivalent to California chaparrel, and other high hazard vegetation types. Fuel loadings exceed twenty tons per acre in some locales. Pinelands fires burn extremely hot and spead rapidly. Crown fires are common, as well as long-range spotting.
General Public Education Program
New Jersey's lead agency in wildfire mitigation and suppression is the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. The Forest Fire Service provides approximately 500 public education programs about fire prevention each year at schools, shopping centers, malls, parades, social clubs, Boy and Girl Scouts, YMCAs and other organizations. It distributes literature about fire prevention, prevention measures for living in fire-prone areas, and issues news releases to the media to alert the public to dangers of wildfires. The Forest Fire Service also participates in the national Firewise educational program.
Hazard Reduction Activities
Prescribed burning operations have been conducted on state lands since 1936. The primary purpose of prescribed burning is to reduce hazardous fuel accumulations. An average of 10,000-15,0000 acres are treated annually. All prescribed burns require a written plan, must be completely surrounded by fire breaks and have suppression equipment standing by. Prescribed burning operations are carried our on an annual basis and at three-to-five year intervals to remove fuel, prevent fires, and render control operations easier. The Forest Fire Service's Fireline Program maintains hundreds of miles of firelines and firebreaks to provide access and break up large continuous forest areas.
Statewide NFP Projects
New Jersey Forest Fire Service has been able to increase its wildfire mitigation activities in public education and prescribed burning using matching funds from the National Fire Plan. (Statewide projects are described below. Site specific projects on Education and Mitigation are described in separate entries on this website.)
New Jersey is developing its Smokey Bear Fire Danger Rating/Awareness signs for areas adjacent to National Parks and Federal Wildlife Refuges. A network of field weather stations across New Jersey is being developed to collect weather data for application towards strategic and tactical decision-making for hazard reduction, and wildfire protection responsibilities. New Jersey is using GIS data to map wildfire hazard areas across the rural and suburban portions of the state, with special attention to high and extreme hazard areas.
Hazard Mitigation/Wildland Fuels Reduction and Management
NJ Forest Fire Service conducts prescribed burns on state lands, as well as county, municipal and non-profit lands. This grant allows the Service to expand its activities to include fuel reduction programs for individual homeowners, municipalities and homeowner associations in WUI areas. The Forest Fire Service will expand hazard mitigation programs directly adjacent and within communities by the use of mechanized equipment to mechanically increase defensible space around homes and improved property. Fifteen creation or improvement of defensible space projects in cooperation with municipalities or homeowners associations will be initiated with this grant. Public awareness of defensible space issues will be increased through posters, newspaper advertisements, and roadside signs.
Contact Information
For more information contact Maris Gabliks or call 609-292-2977.
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