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Maine

TNC Returns Preserve to its Natural State Using Grant Money, Fire

Southwestern Maine, 2003-2004

The Maine Chapter of The Nature Conservancy used a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wildland urban interface grant to reduce flammable vegetation on its 3,000-acre Waterboro Barrens Preserve in southwestern Maine and return it to its natural state.

The TNC's project partners include the Service, Maine State Forest Service and local fire departments from Waterboro, Shapleigh, Newfield, Limerick and Alfred.

In 1947, a wildfire destroyed nearly all of Waterboro Barrens and many of the surrounding communities. Nearly 60 years of fire suppression have again made the preserve a wildfire hazard to surrounding communities.

Wood chips from strategic tree-thinning projects on the preserve were sent to a renewable energy electrical plant. The project employed local people and the money it generated helped Waterboro Barrens managers prepare plans for a rotating schedule of vegetation-thinning and prescribed fire. Part of the strategy is to give local firefighters comprehensive hands-on training in prescribed burning, fireline leadership, crew management and ignition/suppression tactics.

Waterboro Barrens is one of the finest examples of pitch pine and oak-scrub ecosystems in the world. It historically was accustomed to minor fires every three to five years. A number of rare invertebrate, animal and plant species live within its unique mosaic of wetland and upland habitats.

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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.