Land managers need timely and straightforward access to the best scientific information available for informing decisions on how to treat forest fuels in the dry forests of the western United States. However, although there is a tremendous amount of information available for informing fuels management decisions, often, it is in a form that is difficult to use or of limited applicability. To improve access, interpretability, and use of the full body of research, a pilot project was initiated by the USDA Forest Service to synthesize relevant scientific information and develop publications and decisions support tools that managers can use to inform fuels treatment plans. This article provides an overview of the project and briefly discusses key lessons learned as an introduction to a series of articles, to be published in future Journal of forestry issues, on different topic areas addressed by the project. © 2007 by the Society of American Foresters.