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Fire Program Statistics

2004 WUI Treatments :: Great Lakes/Big Rivers Region

Refuge	Number	RX Acres	Mech Acres	Other Acres	Total Acres
Big Oaks NWR	7	5,349			5,349
Big Stone NWR	1	49			47
Detriot Lakes WMD	6	1,374			1,374
Fergus Falls WMD	18	728	58		786
Horicon NWR	8	349		97	446
Iowa WMD	6	810			810
Litchfield WMD	1	150			150
Minnesota Valley NWR	19	843			843
Morris WMD	2	120			120
Necedah NWR	9	2,652	300		2,952
Port Louisa NWR	11	744	11		755
Rydell NWR	11	137			137
Sherburne NWR	4	1,531	6		1,537
St. Croix WMD	7	1,326			1,326
Windom WMD	8	289	20		309
Total	118	16,449	395	97	16,941

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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.