Fire Management Homepage

Keeping Fire On Our Side
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has been using and managing fire safely and cost-effectively since the 1930's, leading to lands being in healthier ecological condition overall, with lower risk of catastrophic fire. This long-term, balanced approach to fire management benefits both people and wildlife.
Hot News Parts of Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico Closed Due to Fire Danger To keep visitors and fragile natural areas safe from damaging fire, some parts of the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge along the Rio Grande will be closed from April 22 to May 5 due to exceptionally dry conditions... Read More... Refuge Fire Manager Trains International Firefighters In February 2008, six firefighters from Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico joined the first ever Spanish-language training at the National Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center. Led by Joe Flores, Assistant Fire Management Officer at Brown’s Park National Wildlife Refuge... Read More...
2008 Blue Goose Fire Crew being formed
The Blue Goose Wildland Fire Crew is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wildland fire crew established in 2007 in partnership with the Columbia Basin Job Corp Center in Moses Lake, Washington. The crew’s purpose is to be available for fire assignments around the country, and last year the 20-person crew saw plenty of action on several fires in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Program Manager, Jason Riggins, is currently seeking fire personnel and students to work on the 2008 Blue Goose Crew. For more information, visit the Blue Goose Wildland Fire Crew information page at http://www.fws.gov/pacific/refuges/bgcrew/index.html

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages public land in every U.S. state and territory, including 547 national wildlife refuges and 69 national fish hatcheries.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages 75 million burnable acres, including 24 million acres of forest/brushland and 4 million acres of grassland.

More than 50% of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands in the continental U.S. (and more than 90% in Alaska) include fire-adapted ecosystems with vegetation dependent on periodic fire.

An average of 500 wildfires burn 260,000 acres each year on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands. The Service also burns about 300,000 acres a year using prescribed fire.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service annual fire program budget is approximately $80 million.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employs more than 530 permanent fire professionals, along with 270 seasonal and temporary fire employees during fire season.

More than 3,000 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees are qualified to assist with wildland fire management on an interagency basis.

The U.S. Fish and Wildland Service Fire Management Program protects more than 700 communities and wildland-urban interface areas.

70 % of lands managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are currently rated as Fire Regime Condition Class 1, meaning they are at low risk of sustaining loss of ecosystem components if a wildfire were to strike.

More than 90% of the hazardous fuels reduction by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is completed using prescribed fire.