These proceedings summarize the results of a symposium designed to address current issues of agencies with wildland fire protection responsibility at the federal and state levels in the United States as well as agencies in the international community. The topics discussed at the symposium included climate change and wildland fires: reality or illusion?, theory and models for strategic fire planning, economic analysis and integrated wildland fire management, forest fires and sustainable forest management, public policies (national and international level) and the wildland fire management problem, hazardous fuels treatment, wildland fire use and fire suppression activities: reduction or contribution to green house gases emissions?, a poster session presenting examples of fire management plans and strategic fire resource allocation, and a final round table on climate change and mega fires discussing and exploring potential solutions. Representatives from international organizations with fire protection responsibilities in 18 countries presented and discussed their experiences on the same issues. Forty invited and contributed papers and 20 posters were presented at the symposium that described the issues and presented state-of-the-art techniques to address technical issues on fire economics, planning, and policy currently faced by land and fire managers.