Fire Program Statistics

Fire Program Statistics

2000 Wildfires by State

Refuge	# Fires	# Acres
Alabama	1	251.0
Alaska	29	180,821.9
Arizona	20	14,992.6
Arkansas	12	119.3
California	49	1,476.7
Colorado	7	1,385.8
Florida	57	3,641.1
Georgia	28	37.5
Hawaii	1	5.0
Idaho	8	2,412.0
Iowa	11	1,722.0
Kansas	15	500.3
Louisiana	44	7,175.4
Maine	2	.6
Maryland	3	52.2
Massachusetts	1	4.0
Michigan	2	2.0
Minnesota	48	2,146.3
Mississippi	34	2,226.1
Missouri	5	696.0
Montana	16	2,101.5
Nebraska	23	22,861.2
Nevada	13	1,763.2
New Mexico	5	1,189.1
New York	2	.2
North Carolina	33	1,769.6
North Dakota	19	385.0
Oklahoma	25	735.3
Oregon	27	1,566.5
South Carolina	9	303.6
South Dakota	8	230.5
Tennessee	5	49.0
Texas	63	20,386.3
Utah	1	.1
Virginia	2	66.5
Washington	36	80,461.8
Wisconsin	2	11.1
Wyoming	1	136.0
Total	667	353,684.3

Back to 2000 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.