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South Dakota

Fuels Treatment Slows Wildfire, Saves Homes

Huron Wetland Management District - 2003

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fire specialists have been controlling vegetation here to reduce wildfire risk to several local communities.

One of these projects paid off on April Fools Day during the 400-acre Shull wildfire, which started on private land in the community of Virgil. The wildfire burned in dense fuel, and resisted all efforts to contain it until it burned into the area that the Service treated with prescribed fire year before. Once the fire reached the previously treated area, flames became lower and slower, allowing firefighters to mount a safe and effective attack. Local volunteer firefighters impressed, saying they were going to recommend prescribed treatment to more private lands in the area to further reduce the risk of wildfire.

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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.