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Arizona

Endangered Species Act Emergency Consultations on Wildfires

2003

During the 2003 wildfire season in Arizona, 186,493 acres burned in 2,406 wildfires. Arizona Ecological Services Field Office, Fish and Wildlife Service, biologists participated in 11 emergency Endangered Species Act Section 7 consultations from March through August. Eight of the fires were on Forest Service-administered lands, two were on Bureau of Land Management lands, and one was on National Park Service land. FWS biologists were on the fire lines as resource and technical advisors, wildland fire use manager, and Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation team member. They provided recommendations during fire suppression and rehabilitation efforts to avoid or minimize negative effects to species including Mexican spotted owl, cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl, and Gila chub; and participated in rescue of Gila chub from Sabino Canyon during the Aspen fire. Biologists are also working to complete consultations underway from 2002 and earlier wildfires.

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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.