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FGDC CSDGM Metadata
FALSE
Fire_FireshedReg_Fireshed
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Fire_FireshedReg_Exp_RC
Relationship
-
Fire_FireshedReg_Exp_RC
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Geographic
GCS_North_American_1983
Angular Unit: Degree (0.017453)
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20250310
19470600
20250310
19470600
FGDC
USFS Chief Information Office, Enterprise Data Warehouse
Please send an e-mail to the address below.
Washington
DC
20250
SM.FS.data@usda.gov
20250204
ArcGIS Metadata
1.0
USFS Chief Information Office, Enterprise Data Warehouse
Please send an e-mail to the address below.
Washington
DC
20250
US
SM.FS.data@usda.gov
None
GDB
see Format Specification
ArcGIS Geodatabase file
Files zipped with 7-Zip 19.0
https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2020-0054-3
https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2020-0054-3
Enterprise Geodatabase Feature Class
USA
S_USA.Fire_FireshedReg_Fireshed
2026-03-10T09:47:18
Forest Service Research Data Archive
Fort Collins, CO
vector digital data
The Fireshed Registry is a geospatial dashboard and decision tool built to
organize information about wildfire transmission to buildings and monitor progress
towards risk reduction for communities from management investments. The concept
behind the Fireshed Registry is to identify and map the source of risk rather than
what is at risk across all lands in the United States. While the Fireshed Registry
was organized around mapping the source of fire risk to communities, the framework
does not preclude the assessment of other resource management priorities and trends
such as water, fish and aquatic or wildlife habitat, or recreation. The Fireshed
Registry is also a multi-scale decision tool for quantifying, prioritizing, and
geospatially displaying wildfire transmission to buildings in adjacent or nearby
communities. Fireshed areas in the Fireshed Registry are approximately 250,000 acre
accounting units that are delineated based on a smoothed building exposure map of
the United States. These boundaries were created by dividing up the landscape into
regular-sized units that represent similar source levels of community exposure to
wildfire risk. Subfiresheds are approximately 25,000 acre accounting units nested
within firesheds. Firesheds for the Conterminous U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii were
generated in separate research efforts and are published in incremental versions in
the Research Data Archive. They are combined here for ease of use.
The fireshed and subfireshed boundaries are designed to delineate hotspots of
fire transmission to adjacent or nearby communities to facilitate cohesive
cross-boundary risk mitigation planning. Exposure metrics are designed to be used
for strategic allocation. Tactical operations should incorporate additional local
knowledge.
This project was funded by the USDA Forest Service, State & Private Forestry
and the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. Additional acknowledgments
are extended to Portland State University, Oregon State University, USDA Forest Service
International Visitor Program, and Kingbird Software.
USFS Chief Information Office, Enterprise Data Warehouse
Please send an e-mail to the address below.
Washington
DC
20250
US
SM.FS.data@usda.gov
United States
geoscientificInformation
ISO 19115 Topic Category
Fire
Fire effects on environment
Wildland/urban interface
Natural Resource Management & Use
Forest management
National Research & Development Taxonomy
wildfire
wildfire exposure
wildfire transmission
wildfire management
geoscientificInformation
Fire
Fire effects on environment
Wildland/urban interface
Natural Resource Management & Use
Forest management
wildfire
wildfire exposure
wildfire transmission
wildfire management
United States
These data were collected using funding from the U.S. Government and can be used
without additional permissions or fees. If you use these data in a publication,
presentation, or other research product please use the following citation: Evers, Cody
R.; Ringo, Chris D.; Ager, Alan A.; Day, Michelle A.; Alcasena Urdíroz, Fermin J.;
Bunzel, Ken. 2024. The Fireshed Registry: Fireshed and subfireshed boundaries for the
continental United States. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive.
https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2020-0054-3 The USDA Forest Service makes no warranty,
expressed or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a
particular purpose, nor assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy,
reliability, completeness or utility of these geospatial data, or for the improper or
incorrect use of these geospatial data. These geospatial data and related maps or
graphics are not legal documents and are not intended to be used as such. The data and
maps may not be used to determine title, ownership, legal descriptions or boundaries,
legal jurisdiction, or restrictions that may be in place on either public or private
land. Natural hazards may or may not be depicted on the data and maps, and users should
exercise due caution. The data are dynamic and may change over time. The user is
responsible to verify the limitations of the geospatial data and to use the data
accordingly.
The U.S. Forest Service makes no warranty, express or implied, nor assumes any
liability or responsibility for the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or utility of
these geospatial data or for the improper or incorrect use of those data. The data are
dynamic and may change over time. The user is responsible for verifying the limitations
of the geospatial data and for using the data accordingly. Metadata documents have been
reviewed for accuracy and completeness. Unless otherwise stated, all data and related
materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for
which these data were collected. However, neither the author, the Archive, nor any part
of the federal government can assure the reliability or suitability of these data for a
particular purpose. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and
no responsibility is assumed for a user's application of these data or related
materials. The metadata, data, or related materials may be updated without notification.
If a user believes errors are present in the metadata, data or related materials, please
use the information in (1) Identification Information: Point of Contact, (2) Metadata
Reference: Metadata Contact, or (3) Distribution Information: Distributor to notify the
author or the Archive of the issues.
Version 6.2 (Build 9200) ; Esri ArcGIS 10.5.1.7333
true
-179
-66
72
18
Ground condition
2026-03-10
1
-178.204326
-66.888649
71.363839
18.910352
Fireshed boundaries are accounting areas that were delineated based on
specific fuel conditions and modeling tools that were available when each segment
was generated. The specific conditions and tools are documented in the metadata
found in the Research Data Archive. The boundaries among adjacent firesheds are the
product of the “Simple Linear Iterative Clustering” (SLIC) algorithm, which is
dependent on the initial placement of points from which the image segments (i.e.,
clusters) are derived. This means that the boundaries between adjacent firesheds,
particularly those in areas with homogenous exposure, may vary over successive runs.
These data represent one such solution. Achanta, R.; Shaji, A.; Smith, K.; Lucchi,
A.; Fua, P.; Süsstrunk, S. 2012. SLIC superpixels compared to state-of-the-art
superpixel methods. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence
34(11): 2274-2282. https://doi.org/10.1109/tpami.2012.120
No consistency evaluation was performed.
Fireshed and subfireshed boundaries reflect the resolution of the underlying
building exposure raster of 270 meters. These boundaries can be considered complete, but
note that boundaries representing features such as national boundaries and coastlines
will be greatly generalized and, in the case of islands, they may be omitted
entirely.
Management selected high risk firesheds based on building exposure that
was treatable in various scenario planning models. The Crisis Strategy label was
originally published in the Fireshed Exposure table.
2026-03-10
Features from unpublished research added Hawaii Firesheds to the published
Fireshed features for CONUS and Alaska.
2026-03-10
The High Risk (a.k.a Crisis Strategy) labels were added as a new attribute
to the Fireshed feature class.
2026-03-10
9227
: Fireshed boundaries in this data set are accounting units that facilitate
agency wildfire risk assessments to prioritize forest and fuel management
investments that target high leverage landscapes in terms of reducing wildfire
exposure. They do not follow identifiable geographic features. The ArcGIS features
are non-overlapping boundaries delineating wildfire transmission to buildings for
monitoring progress towards risk reduction from management investments. Exposure
attributes and Subfiresheds that are available through the Forest Service Enterprise
Data Warehouse or Research Data Archive can be associated to these Firesheds based
on Fireshed ID.
None provided
S_USA.Fire_FireshedReg_Fireshed
Vector polygons: “Firesheds” within the Fireshed Registry are approximately
250,000 acre accounting units that are delineated based on a smoothed building
exposure map of the United States. These boundaries were created by dividing up
the landscape into regular-sized units that represent similar source levels of
community exposure to wildfire risk.
None
Feature Class
9227
OBJECTID
Internal feature number.
Esri
Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
OBJECTID
OID
4
10
0
Shape
Feature geometry.
Esri
Coordinates defining the features.
SHAPE
Geometry
8
0
0
Area_HA
Fireshed area, in hectares
USFS
Any value > 0
Area_HA
Integer
4
10
0
Fireshed_ID
Unique Fireshed ID.
USFS
1
12018
Fireshed_ID
Integer
4
10
0
Fireshed_Name
Fireshed name; fireshed names were using a hierarchy of U.S. Census
populated place names based on the highest population place within the fireshed,
and for fireshed without populated places, names were assigned using the
Geographic Names Information System; in rare cases names were manually
assigned.
USFS
Free text
Fireshed_Name
String
255
0
0
Fireshed_Code
Fireshed codes are abbreviated versions of the fireshed name
USFS
Free text
Fireshed_Code
String
255
0
0
Fireshed_State
State that the majority of fireshed falls within.
USFS
State abbreviation
Fireshed_State
String
2
0
0
NoSubfiresheds
Number of subfiresheds that fall within the fireshed boundary
[4-24]
USFS
4
24
Number of Subfiresheds
Integer
4
10
0
MajRegion
USDA Forest Service administrative region that the majority of the fireshed
falls within.
USFS
01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 08, 09, or 10
MajRegion
String
4
0
0
High_Risk
Firesheds used in the FY 2022 Landscape analysis process.
'All-Lands' priority firesheds were published in December of 2021. The
map identified 141 firesheds where scenario planning scheduled the most
treatment throughout the western U.S.
https://usdagcc.sharepoint.com/sites/fs-wo-oc/Fire-Hub/SiteAssets/Confronting%20the%20Wildfire%20Crisis/Confronting%20the%20Wildfire%20Crisis.pdf
'USFS-Only' priority firesheds include an additional list of 130 firesheds with
the highest measure of manageable conifer exposure on Forest Service lands.
Where both criteria are met, only the 'All-Lands' label is applied.
'All-Lands', 'USFS-Only', or null
High Risk
String
10
0
0
SHAPE.AREA
SHAPE.AREA
Double
0
0
0
SHAPE.LEN
SHAPE.LEN
Double
0
0
0
dataset
EPSG
6.5(3.0.1)
Simple
FALSE
9227
TRUE
FALSE