WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States has a close working relationship with four countries—Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand—to exchange fire management resources. These countries have a close working relationship developed through participation in the North American Forest Commission, Fire Management Working Group and the Australasian Forest Fire Management Group. The FMWG-FFMG relationship began in the 1950s with efforts to exchange personnel for information sharing and, in the late 1990s, to develop the ability to exchange resources for fire suppression support.

The United States is able to exchange resources with each of these international partners due to bilateral agreements or arrangements that define what type of assistance can be provided. Accompanying operating plans further define how these countries exchange resources. The Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior jointly entered into these agreements under the authority of the Emergency Wildfire Suppression Act as Amended, U.S. Public Law 100-428, 42 USC, Section 1856m.

The bilateral agreements are coordinated through the Forest Service, Fire & Aviation Management office in Washington, D.C., in cooperation with the Department of the Interior Office of Wildland Fire. The National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group, comprised of federal and state wildland fire representatives, works with the National Interagency Coordination Center based at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, to request resources and distribute assistance to fires in the United States, and to mobilize resources to support firefighting activities in our partner countries.

All reimbursable costs are addressed in the operating plans under the international agreements. The costs of salary, travel, lodging, meals and other expenses normally covered by the assisting country will be reimbursed by the requesting country.

Australia/New Zealand
The U.S., Australia and New Zealand share similar wildland fire issues. The three countries have provided technical and operational support in wildland fire management to one another for over 55 years and have been exchanging firefighting assistance for 20 years. The first bilateral agreements were signed in 2002, even though the first exchange for firefighting support occurred in 2000.

Canada
This arrangement, in the form of an Exchange of Notes between the government of Canada and the government of the United States of America, was signed in 1982 and allows for the suppression of fire occurring within the border region of both countries (defined as 10 miles on each side of the border) and provides a process for requesting and ordering resources for support of fires outside the border region.

Mexico
The Forest Service shares a long history of cooperation with Mexico in the area of fire management. Cooperation on firefighting along the border can be traced back to 1962. The  Forest Service has provided training to and assisted Mexico with strengthening capacity in fire management since 1983. In 1999, the Wildfire Protection Agreement between the U. S. Departments of Agriculture and Interior and the Secretariat of Environment, Natural Resources, and Fisheries of the United Mexican States for the Common Border was signed, allowing the countries to work together on the suppression of fire occurring within the border region of both countries (defined as 10 miles on each side of the border). This agreement was continued and expanded in 2015 to allow for cooperation beyond the 10-mile border zone, and for cooperation on fire management preparedness.

These relationships continue to serve each country well. This fall, firefighters from Mexico came to the U.S. to support firefighting efforts in California; and at the beginning of the year, our firefighters helped battle the fires in Australia.