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North Carolina

North Carolina

Refuge Lights Up Holiday Parade

December, 2008

The holiday season came to Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge when the refuge float was awarded first place at the local holiday parade in Manteo, North Carolina. Refuge employees, along with countless volunteers, represented Alligator River’s extensive fire program by choosing “Fire Can Be Friend or Foe; Have a SAFE and MERRY Christmas” for their float theme.

Volunteers awed the crowd by transforming into the roles of the Blue Goose, the American Alligator, and the ever elusive Red Wolf. Eight local children were dressed as Junior Refuge Firefighters-in-training, completely equipped with fire-resistant clothing, hard hats, drip torches, and water hoses. The sooty-faced Junior Fire Fighters both fought and lit fires of crate paper to demonstrate both fire suppression and the use of fire to enhance the habitat of the many species of wildlife found on the refuge.

The Marsh Master vehicle was also featured in the display, giving the public a rare look at a unique piece of firefighting equipment needed to travel across land and water in the pocosin and marsh environment of eastern North Carolina.

The float riders waved to the crowd as they journeyed along the parade route and wished everyone a “Merry Fishmas.”

	Participants on the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge first place winning float, ready themselves to travel the holiday parade route in Manteo, NC.

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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.