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Mountainaire Healthy Forests Restoration Act Project

Flagstaff - 2005

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Flagstaff field office has worked with the U.S. Forest Service and the Greater Flagstaff Forest Partnership during the past year on designing a wildland urban interface fuels reduction project within the greater Flagstaff area.

This is the fourth project of its kind, all of which have involved areas of more than 10,000 acres.

The Mountainaire Healthy Forests Restoration Act Project will be one of the first projects to be implemented under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, and the Greater Flagstaff Community Wildfire Protection Plan. The project design is the result of a collaborative effort and will result not only in increased wildfire protection for the community of Mountainaire and the City of Flagstaff , but will also emphasize the maintenance of important wildlife habitat and important forest structure attributes, especially in Mexican spotted owl habitat. The owl is listed as a threatened species.

The Service helped design a plan to thin trees and vegetation within Mexican spotted owl habitat, and will assist in monitoring the effectiveness of the project. The project is designed to increase and improve owl habitat, while also reducing wildfire risk to the area.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages public land in every U.S. state and territory, including 547 national wildlife refuges and 69 national fish hatcheries.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages 75 million burnable acres, including 24 million acres of forest/brushland and 4 million acres of grassland.

More than 50% 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 260,000 acres each year on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands. The Service also burns about 300,000 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 530 permanent fire professionals, along with 270 seasonal and temporary fire employees during fire season.

More than 3,000 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.