Recommendations for Future Research and Development

Managing smoke and air quality impacts from fires requires an increasing base of knowledge obtained through research and the development of information systems. Fire and air resource managers have had the responsibility since the 1960s to mitigate direct intrusions of smoke into areas where it presents a health or safety hazard, or where it is simply objectionable to an affected population. In more recent years, that responsibility has broadened because of an increase in the use of fire, more people in the wildland/urban interface, tightening of regulatory standards, and decreasing public tolerance for air pollution. More states require smoke management plans, and the plans are increasingly complex due to increased coverage and greater requirements for notification, modeling, monitoring, and recordkeeping.

The following sections provide direction for future research and development in smoke and air quality:

• Established Research Framework
• Emerging Research Needs

As these previous sections have showed, knowledge and information requirements for managing fire effects on air quality continue to increase. Policy advancements require the understanding, modeling, prediction, monitoring, and tracking of fires and their effect on air at greater detail and in greater volume than ever before. Research and development has progressed logically over the past 25 years due to strategic planning and prioritization that has included the needs of the managers of ecosystems and of air quality. Analytical and information transfer capacity has increased dramatically in the past decade, so information is more readily accessible to those who need it. Thanks largely to the National Fire Plan, the Joint Fire Science Program, the Western Regional Air Partnership, and EPAs implementation of the Regional Haze Rule, there is currently more active research and development the effects of fire on air than ever before.