FOIL THE FREDDIES: FOIA THAT FIRE!

by Timothy Ingalsbee, Ph.D.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides an excellent vehicle for uncovering some of the environmental insanity that occurs under the smokescreen of firefighting. Every firefighting incident generates piles of paperwork that officially documents who did what, when, and where on a wildfire. Environmentalists can use the information in fire records to educate the public about the damage that firefighting inflicts upon their forests. Equally important, fire records can often establish direct links between areas where incident commanders ordered firefighters to bulldoze firelines or ignite backfires, and salvage logging units later planned in these same areas.

A FOIA request on the Warner Creek Fire records uncovered several items that helped fuel public outrage and eventually stopped the Warner Salvage Sales. The most disturbing discovery concerned the immense amount of backfiring and burnout that firefighters were ordered to do--deliberately torching up several thousand acres of this spotted owl sanctuary. While comparing the daily shift plans with daily weather reports, it was revealed that for five days straight firefighters poured hundreds of gallons of flaming diesal fuel on the forest even though the wildfire was dying down because of cold, drizzly weather. Most shocking of all, records of aircraft operations revealed that a helitorch (a helicopter that spews flames onto the forest) was ordered to burn the same exact area that later became the first units of the infamous Warner Salvage Sales. Firefighters only stopped lighting their fires when several inches of snow fell on the ground. This information on the extent of backfiring and burnout perpetrated on spotted owl habitat was vitally important in helping to mobilize citizens across the country to actively oppose the Warner Salvage Sales. You, too, might stop a heinous fire salvage sale if you FOIA those fire records and spread that information throughout the community.

There are several strategic purposes for doing FOIA requests on firefighting records. First, you can embarass the agency by revealing to the public suppression actions that resulted in hot burns later proposed for salvage sales. This evidence is particulary damning when it involves sensitive wildlands, habitat reserves, or Roadless Areas. Second, you can gather evidence for use in a lawsuit over specific incidents of deliberate resource damage caused by firefighters (e.g. dumping chemicals in streams, driving bulldozers over known archeaological sites, etc. etc.) Alternately, evidence gathered from several wildfire incidents could be part of a wider lawsuit to force agency compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Federal land management agencies must subject their firefighting policies to NEPA analysis, and disclose to the public the full range of foreseeable environmental impacts and economic costs of standard firefighting practices. Fourth, by regularly reviewing firefighting records, you can let agency leaders know that any illegal or unethical actions ordered by fire bosses will be harshly criticized and widely pubicized. Perhaps they will think twice before ordering abusive suppression actions in the future. All of these strategic purposes for doing a FOIA request of firefighting records can work in conjuction as part of a wider, grander strategy to end this system of environmental destruction once and for all.

Here’s a sample FOIA letter and partial list of documents to request. While you may choose to add to the following text (particularly if you are a non-profit organization, in which you may want to press your case for a fee waiver of released photocopied records) DO NOT DELETE ANY OF THIS since it all serves legal requirements. Good luck and happy hunting!

Freedom of Information Act Request by (your name here)

(date)

Dear (Forest Supervisor’s and/or FOIA Coordinator’s name here),

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 USC #552, we hereby request to review and copy certain documents relating to the (date and name of fire) in the (location, i.e. name of District and National Forest). We request access to review and copy materials from the following documents:

Daily and Nightly Shift Plans... [repeat: “for the (name of fire).” on each line]

Daily and Nightly Fire Maps...

Incident Commander Strategy Session Meeting Notes...

Radio Communication Logs...

Fire Behavior Analysis Reports...

Daily and Nightly Fire Weather Reports...

Documentation Unit Records...

ICS 201: Incident Briefing Forms...

ICS 203: Organization Assignment Lists...

ICS 207: Organizational Assignment Charts...

ICS 209: Incident Status Summary Reports...

ICS 220: Air Operations Summary Reports...

[You may also want to request all USFS press releases and internal E-mail]

Data concerning (name of fire) is of unquestioned interest to the debate over firefighting and salvage logging. As such, this information will contribute to public understanding and oversight of Forest Service operations and their relation to the public’s wishes concerning forest management.

(Name of you and/or your organization) will make the disclosed information available upon request, will display it in presentations, publications and educational materials of our own production, and will seek to have it published in the environmental and mainstream press. This information will not be used for commercial use or gain.

This request is not meant to be exclusive of any other records which, though not specifically requested, would have a reasonable relationship to the subject matter of this request. Indeed, (name of you/your organization) requests to see all relevant records and documents relating to the (name of fire).

In the event that access to any of the requested records is denied, please note that the FOIA provides that if only portions of a requested file are exempted from release, the remainder must still be released. We therefore request that we be provided with all non-exempt portions which are reasonably segregable. We further request that you describe the deleted material in detail and specify the statutory basis for the denial as well as your reasons for believing that the alleged statutory justification applies in this instance. Please separately state your reasons for not invoking your discretionary powers to release the requested documents in the public interest. Such statements will be helpful in deciding whether to appeal an adverse determination, and in formulating arguments in case an appeal is taken. The USFSÕs written justification might also help to avoid unnecessary litigation. We of course reserve our right to appeal the withholding or deletion of any information and expect that you will list the office and address where such an appeal can be sent.

We anticipate, however, that you will make the requested materials available within the statutorily prescribed period. We thus also request that you waive any applicable fees since disclosure meets the statutory standard for waiver of fees in that it is clearly “in the public interest because furnishing the information can be considered as primarily benefiting the general public,” 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A). In this regard, we reiterate that we have no intention of using the information disclosed for financial gain.

Access to the requested records should be granted within ten (10) working days from the date of your receipt. Failure to respond in a timely manner shall be viewed as a denial of this request and the requesters may immediately file an administrative appeal.

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Signed,

(your name)

Be sure to give your full address and phone numbers where you can be reached in the daytime. Then, put this in the mail with a certified return receipt request, and wait for the results! YouÕll hopefully be hot to trot out this FOIA request as soon as a wildfire ignites, but do have some patience and wait until the fire is officially Òdeclared out.Ó DonÕt wait too long, however, because fire records are eventually shipped far away to regional warehouses for deep, cold storage.

Now, if you are lucky, you will get a friendly invitation to visit the local Forest Service office where the records are being temporarily stored. This will probably the District Ranger Station nearest the fire, or it may be the main fire dispatch center at the SupervisorÕs Office. Now your real work begins, because you will likely be confronted with a truckload of boxes. Indeed, the 10 day Warner Creek Fire generated 17 xerox boxes full of bureaucratic paperwork in triplicate forms! Start with the documents listed in order above, but if given the opportunity, explore other file folders for information that might be interesting or useful to you. Contact CFEEP for some advice in making sense out of the mess of acronyms used in firefighting, but better yet, go through these records with an off-duty firefighter who can “talk shop” with the Freddies.

If you are unlucky, the Forest Service may try to deny your request or obstruct it in certain ways. The Freddies may try to charge you a 20 cent per page photocopying fee so ask for a right to read through the documents first, then be frugal with your selections of documents to have photocopied. Contact local environmental organizations with experience in FOIA requests to navigate these and other bureaucratic obstructions. One last thing: although FOIA requests are somewhat adversarial by nature, the person actually retrieving and photocopying documents for you may be a bored bureaucrat who cares little about what you want to uncover. They will likely be much more helpful to you if you are friendly, patient, and courteous with them. Save your hot air for the Freddie Decisionmakers.

Good luck: FOIA those fire records and foil the Freddies!