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Fire Management Plan Protects Habitat for Numerous Endangered Species

Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge - 2005

A biological opinion recently completed for Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge's 2005-2008 Fire Management Plan turned up exactly what fire managers expected: the prescribed fire that is critical to maintaining semi-desert grasslands on the refuge could adversely affect federally listed species there.

The opinion, authored by the Service's endangered species staff in Arizona , recognizes fire's potential to adversely affect endangered masked bobwhite, cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, and Pima pineapple cactus. It recommends mitigation measures to minimize impacts to these endangered species. Fire managers plan to burn up to 14,000 acres annually on this refuge over the next four years. Fire is critical to maintain the semi-desert grasslands here that support the endangered masked bobwhite quail. The fire management plan includes protection measures for the owl and quail and an experimental design to study the effects of fire on exotic grasses on the cactus. Other species addressed in the biological opinion include Chiricauhua leopard frog and Gila topminnow.

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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.