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International News

U.S. Wildland Firefighters Lend a Hand in Canada August 2009

Service Supports Australian Firefighters March 2009

Partnership with Mutual Benefits January 2008

Break in Vegetation Aids Firefighters in Puerto Rico 2008

Employees Train Military and International Firefighters August 2008

Refuge Fire Manager Trains International Firefighters 2008

Service Fire Pros Lend a Hand Down Under 2007

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Helps Fight Wildfires in Australia U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Fire Management - 2007

Firefighting Downunder-Style National Interagency Fire Center - 2004

Refuges Assist Ugandan Firefighters Mississippi Sandhill Crane and Piedmont National Wildlife Refuges - 2003

International Partnership Promotes Fuels Management Columbia National Wildlife Refuge - 2003

 

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages public land in every U.S. state and territory, including 550 national wildlife refuges and 70 national fish hatcheries.

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

More than 80% 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 300,000 acres each year on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands. The Service also burns more than 350,000 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 500 permanent fire professionals, along with 200 seasonal and temporary fire employees during fire season.

More than 2,000 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.

Historically, an acre was the amount of land tillable by one man behind an ox in one day. This measures 90% of a football field. There are 640 acres in a square mile.

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