The overarching goal of the Coalition is to establish and maintain a viable coalition of prescribed fire councils by providing encouragement, education, and leadership for the use of prescribed fire across the United States.

The concept of forming a Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils developed back in early 2006. The need was largely driven by the Environmental Protection Agency’s eminent and emerging National Ambient Air Quality Standards revisions that were perceived as potential limits or restrictions imposed on a landowner’s use of prescribed fire as a natural resource management tool. Other concerns at that time, which are still relevant today, centered around public health and safety, liability, and public perception that created misapprehensions that constrain wildland fire use. It was the conclusion of the original stakeholder members that these collective challenges surpassed the ability of any single agency, state, organization, or individual to resolve alone. Thus, to more effectively address the issues of prescribed fire management and to better meet the challenges of wildland fire in an increasingly development-focused landscape, a diverse group of public and private leaders formed the Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils in 2009 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.