The United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, in conjunction with the Arivaca Fire Department is planning two prescribed burns the first week in March, weather permitting. The burns will take place near the Arivaca Cienega and along the Arivaca Creek southeast of town and will consist of low to moderate fire activity. The burns have two major goals: to improve the chance of successfully stopping any wildfire that may threaten homes, private land and critical wildlife habitat, and to improve wildlife habitats by encouraging the growth of native plant species.
Interagency assistance is being provided by fire personnel from the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service.
Fire Management personnel from Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge will closely monitor weather and fuel conditions to maximize results and minimize smoke impacts on the community. Burns will generally last one day with one afternoon of heavy smoke possible. The current plan encompasses several hundred acres for treatment over the next few years. Refuge personnel plan to burn approximately 150 acres per year.
High intensity burns, primarily for wildlife habitat improvement, will continue to take place during the summer months on refuge property along State Hwy 286.
The area where homes and wildland meet is commonly referred to as the wildland urban interface. Protecting the wildland urban interface is one of the primary goals of the National Fire Plan. Buenos Aires NWR personnel will be conducting some fuel reduction work, including prescribed burns and mechanical treatment of vegetation. These operations may provide contract opportunities for equipment owners and operators.
The fire season of 2002 was the most severe in Arizona history and demonstrated the volatility of untreated fuels. Natural fires historically occurred every five to ten years, but fire suppression efforts, along with development, have altered the natural cycle. Mesquite trees have flourished with the absence of fire. These trees increase the size and intensity of flame fronts that firefighters must confront. Prescribed burning reduces the total amount of vegetation and promotes renewal of native species that have naturally evolved with fire. Prescribed burning and mechanical treatments may cost as little as one tenth that of a large scale fire fighting effort. Mechanical treatment examples include; permanent fuel breaks (dozer lines), chainsaw work and Gyro-Trac treatment (a giant lawnmower).
Arivaca and Refuge firefighters will be happy to discuss fire prevention measures with anyone interested in protecting their property. The most important step a homeowner can take is to create defensible space. Defensible space in the wildland urban interface allows firefighters to get near a home and do their job. Landowners that border Refuge property are especially encouraged to contact Refuge fire management personnel at (520) 823-4251.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses nearly 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
