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North Carolina

Hazardous Fuels Reduction Benefits Community, Habitat

2007

Lingering smoke can still be seen the day after a prescribed burn at Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge. Prescribed burns on November 5 and 6, 2006 next to the community of Cedar Island reduced the build-up of fuels which can contribute to an intense wildfire.

Lingering smoke can still be seen last fall the day after a prescribed burn at Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina. These prescribed burns next to the community of Cedar Island reduced the build-up of fuels, which can contribute to an intense wildfire. (USFWS)

In fall 2006 fire specialists conducted burns on two successive days at Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina. The prescribed burns, intentionally set under specific conditions, reduced the build-up of hazardous fuels around the community of Cedar Island and improved the health of marshes and woodlands in the burn units.

Fire crews from five national wildlife refuges traveled to Cedar Island and brought their heavy equipment with them. A contract helicopter and pilot flew in to meet the crew for the burn. Natural resource personnel from Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station assisted with the burns and local North Carolina Forest Service personnel were available as back-ups, as was the Cedar Island Volunteer Fire Department. The fire department’s water tower served as an engine refill location. Over the course of two days, overgrown weeds and brush on 1,014 acres was burned before the weather turned rainy.

During the burns, a half-mile section of Highway 12 experienced some visibility impairment from smoke, but because smoke management plan was included in the prescribed fire plan for each unit, fire crews were ready to respond. They quickly placed signs along the highway and used flashing lights on their vehicles to slow oncoming traffic. The smoke lasted about 90 minutes on each day.

Additional prescribed burns are planned for the refuge between now and September 2007. These prescribed burns will reduce fuel build-up and wildfire risk to additional areas around Cedar Island and Atlantic communities, as well as improve wildlife habitat on the refuge.

Contact: Bruce Freske at 252-926-4021.

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Interior Fire Program Assessment

Did You Know...

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.