National Fuels Treatments Initiative: Building a Seamless Map of Hazardous Fuels Treatments Through Scalable ETL and Automation

The National Fuels Treatments Initiative (NFT) is transforming wildfire mitigation by creating a standardized map of nationwide fuels treatment locations across all land ownerships in the United States. While existing state and federal systems capture this data in diverse formats, NFT bridges these gaps, delivering the first truly integrated national view. This dataset will be used to measure the implementation of the National Cohesive Wildland Strategy and demonstrate the positive impact of collective investments in hazardous fuels reduction nationwide. In Phase 1, we developed an ETL pipeline template in FME Form, leveraging a schema-agnostic workflow with dynamic feature handling intended for fast roll-out and light maintenance. This was key as the initiative scaled from a few to over fifty contributors nationwide. By directly pulling from agency data stores, oftentimes ArcGIS Feature Services, NFT preserves existing structures, minimizing preparation needs. External mapping tables ensure consistent attribute and domain alignment, while robust change detection processes keep data current and actionable. Now in Phase 2, we’re migrating pipelines to FME Flow to take advantage of advanced scheduling, monitoring dashboards, and automated notifications to streamline operations. Join us to explore how this initiative exemplifies the power of technology, blending FME, ArcGIS Online, and AWS to solve a national business problem with a scalable, automated solution.