Wildfire Prevention Act of 2002

Wildfire Prevention Act of 2002 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, to: (1) establish three Institutes (one each in Arizona (at Northern Arizona University), New Mexico, and Colorado) to promote the use of adaptive ecosystem management to reduce the risk of wildfires in the interior West (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah), and improve the health of forest and woodland ecosystems; and (2) provide assistance to the Institutes to promote the use of such management.

Defines adaptive ecosystem management as a natural resource management process under which planning, implementation, monitoring, research, evaluation, and incorporation of new knowledge are combined into a management approach that is: (1) based on scientific findings and the needs of society; and (2) used to modify future management methods and policy.

Prescribes requirements for cooperation among the Institutes and Federal programs relating to ecological restoration, wildfire risk reduction, and wildfire management technologies.

Authorizes appropriations.