With limited funding available for prescribed fire, selecting critical areas for burning is increasingly important to land management agencies. This paper presents the process used by Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks to integrate hazard, risk, and value criteria as they relate to fire planning within a framework of GIS. Our goal was to identify high priority areas most in need of burn treatment to optimize the use of limited funding. This type of use of GIS is classical, but in an area that has received only minor attention. This application was completed using Arc/Info, Grid, and ArcView 3.0. Three major models were developed. A value model was developed that considers two major components. First, the ecological need component considered fire rotations based on historic fire return intervals (pre 1860) within general plant communities. The longer a time interval exceeded the maximum historic fire interval without a fire, the higher the priority rating for returning fire to this area. The second component of the value model considered infrastructure and human life/safety values. High visitation areas and areas with buildings/facilities were given higher weight and value. A hazard model considered key factors that affect managers* ability to a control a fire, or a fire*s resistance to control once ignited. Finally, a risk model was developed that considered historic wildfire occurrence from both human and lightning causes. These three models can be aggregated together in different ways depending on the nature of the questions being asked, or each model can be considered as a separate analysis. As severe wildfires continue to increase each year in North America because of continuing fuel accumulation, it will become increasingly important to use fire as a management option. The use of GIS will be an essential tool for planning and implementing land management programs such fuel modification and ecosystem restoration.