Fire Program Statistics

Fire Program Statistics

1996 Prescribed Fires by State

Refuge	# Fires	# Acres
Alabama	13	461.2
Alaska	1	90.0
Arizona	4	2,328.0
Arkansas	8	2,710.0
California	34	7,926.0
Deleware	2	90.0
Florida	143	29,412.6
Georgia	45	9,739.0
Hawaii	1	10.0
Illinois	8	285.4
Indiana	2	75.0
Iowa	23	1,350.2
Kansas	12	895.0
Louisiana	11	11,942.0
Maine	10	88.3
Maryland	37	2,597.0
Michigan	5	273.0
Minnesota	110	13,653.4
Mississippi	36	8,056.0
Missouri	16	1,252.0
Montana	5	792.0
Nebraska	13	1,858.0
Nevada	12	7,452.0
New Mexico	1	300.0
New York	1	2.0
North Carolina	19	7,652.0
North Dakota	81	10,251.0
Oklahoma	3	262.0
Oregon	48	8,514.0
Pennsylvania	9	70.5
South Carolina	35	13,946.0
South Dakota	6	297.0
Tennessee	3	130.1
Texas	51	19,944.8
Utah	1	140.0
Vermont	1	11.6
Virginia	3	225.0
Washington	11	885.4
Wisconsin	24	1,183.7
Total	848	167,151.2

Back to 1996 Statistics

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.