The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Idaho Operations Office prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Wildland Fire Management Program at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) (DOE/EA-2297). The EA evaluates the potential environmental impacts of implementing fire management strategies for enhancement of firefighter safety, asset protection, and recovery of natural resources at the INL Site.
DOE fire management and recovery options at the INL Site are currently limited to those that were analyzed in the 2003 wildland fire (WLF) EA and FONSI (DOE-ID 2003). Consequently, DOE needs to improve fire preparedness and recovery at the INL Site, and reevaluate actions identified in the WLF EA and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) (DOE-ID 2003) to determine which ones are no longer adequate to prevent or limit the impact of a larger wildland fire on the INL Site.
The potential for WLF poses a risk to the operational capabilities that enable INL to meet its primary mission needs. Furthermore, as pressures from invasive species and anthropogenic impacts increase across the landscape in the western U.S., managing WLF recovery to promote healthy sagebrush steppe becomes an increasingly important stewardship responsibility. DOE needs to reduce the risk of damage and injury to property, human life and health, and ecological resources at INL from WLF to protect and maintain the operational capabilities of INL and ensure that the local ecosystem is resilient to WLF and can recover from its impact. The purpose of the Proposed Action is to improve 1) WLF response capabilities and firefighter safety and 2) offer adaptive capacity in WLF recovery practices.
For more information, see Idaho National Laboratory.
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July 30, 2025