Fig. 1

Potential operational delineations (PODs) and risk-informed strategic response categories on the Tonto National Forest, along with the progression maps of three large wildfires and corresponding completed fire containment lines from 2017. “High Complexity” is a special case of the “Protect” designation reserved for PODs that should transition to “restore” once fuel treatments near susceptible infrastructure are completed. “Exclude” is unique to forests of the American Southwest and represents desert ecosystems not adapted to fire but where fire does not pose significant risk to human life or infrastructure. More information on these incidents is available on the PODs Story Map and in O’Connor and Calkin (2019)