Fire Program Statistics

Fire Program Statistics

2003 Wildfires by State

State	# Fires	Acres Burned
Alaska	19	91,457.8
Arkansas	3	10.4
Arizona	9	348.5
California	37	830.5
Colorado	3	1.1
Florida	19	2,978.9
Georgia	1	81.0
Iowa	19	1,298.3
Idaho	6	371.5
Illinois	3	13.8
Indiana	1	300.0
Kansas	24	433.1
Louisiana	46	11,285.4
Massachusetts	4	26.3
Maryland	2	50.1
Minnesota	86	4,581.1
Missouri	2	4.0
Mississippi	4	27.2
Montana	25	24,711.7
North Carolina	6	2,312.2
North Dakota	25	1,032.4
Nebraska	5	212.2
New Jersey	1	0.5
New Mexico	7	21.5
Nevada	4	579.8
New York	1	3.0
Oklahoma	18	116.0
Oregon	12	442.0
Puerto Rico	3	483.3
South Carolina	1	0.1
South Dakota	9	1,021.0
Texas	58	14,354.4
Utah	1	300.0
Washington	40	863.3
Wisconsin	13	695.7
Wyoming	2	14.0
Total	519	161,262.1

Back to 2003 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.