Fire AerialFireRetardantAvoidanceAreas Aquatic (Open Data Hub)

This data depicts aquatic aerial fire retardant avoidance areas delivered as part of the 2011 Nationwide Aerial Application of Fire Retardant on National Forest System Land Environmental Impact Statement, the 2023 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, and the 2024 Record of Decision.This data shows areas where the aerial application of fire retardant should be avoided in order to prevent the potential of impacts to aquatic features across National Forest lands. The data is based on the high resolution National Hydrographic Dataset (NHD) produced by USGS. Each National Forest has the opportunity annually to modify the default NHD water representation (300ft buffer around all perennial and intermittent water features) to more accurately represent aquatic aerial fire retardant avoidance areas.This data is to be used in planning and implementation phases of U.S. Forest Service fire activities to help prevent intrusions of aerial fire retardant in these aquatic areas throughout National Forest lands. Provided here is a regionally merged dataset. This data has been merged, dissolved, and erased of attributes contained in each original component dataset. For this purpose, specific attributes are not necessary, as any spatial areas depicted simply show areas where aerial fire retardant use is to be avoided as stated in U.S. Forest Service guidelines.