Nwcg Standards for Airspace Coordination

The National Wildfire Coordinating Group provides national leadership to enable interoperable wildland fire operations among federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners. Primary objectives include: Establish national interagency wildland fire operations standards. Recognize that the decision to adopt standards is made independently by the NWCG members and communicated through their respective directives systems;.Establish wildland fire position standards, qualifications requirements, and performance support capabilities (e.g. training courses, job aids) that enable implementation of NWCG standards; Support the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy goals: to restore and maintain resilient landscapes; create fire adapted communities; and respond to wildfires safely and effectively; Establish information technology (IT) capability requirements for wildland fire; and Ensure that all NWCG activities contribute to safe, effective, and coordinated national interagency wildland fire operations. The "NWCG Standards for Airspace Coordination" standardizes safe, consistent approaches to issues involving airspace and agency land management responsibilities. This is an educational process that will contribute to a clear understanding of flight and coordination within the complexities of the National Airspace System (NAS). Additionally, it promotes airspace coordination with respect to environmental issues. The objectives of the "NWCG Standards for Airspace Coordination" are: Describe the components of the NAS, and define airspace coordination responsibilities among the various agencies and users of the NAS; Describe the processes and procedures that an agency should employ so that users may: Coordinate, deconflict, and conduct flight missions safely within the NAS with respect to safety concerns and operational requirements; Coordinate, deconflict, and respond to airspace issues relating to the environment; Provide educational material aimed at both agency and military aviation and airspace managers that will contribute to a clear understanding of the complex nature of the airspace in which we all share; and Identify airspace coordination responsibilities for agency personnel. Airspace coordination and deconfliction is a shared responsibility among pilots, Air Traffic Controllers, dispatchers, trainers, on-scene personnel, and managers of resources, operations, safety, and airspace. The primary focus in airspace coordination is mid-air collision avoidance. When performing most agency aviation tasks, the pilot's attention will be diverted out of the aircraft toward the ground, conflicting with their primary responsibility to "see and avoid" other aircraft or obstructions. Other users of this airspace may have similar workload distractions. As airspace becomes more complex, effective processes are needed that will identify issues and facilitates coordination efforts. The FAA and Department of Defense (DoD) are our primary collaborative partners in minimizing risk during flight operations. An understanding and awareness of the procedures in this publication will improve aviation safety through coordinated use of the NAS. A consistent approach will also maximize agency effectiveness as resource managers, and ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when responding to airspace proposals.