• International News Archives
• National News Archives
• News Archives by State

Alaska

Alaska

Alaska Refuges Play Major Role in Developing Joint Fire Science Program Research Proposals

2004

Each year during an eight-week period, researchers interested in fire related topics compete for funding from the Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture's "Joint Fire Science Program." This year, refuges in Alaska are involved in six of the 11 proposals that were submitted for research in Alaska. Research topics range from climate change and vegetation succession, to caribou and moose population movements related to large fires, to gathering data on fire behavior in beetle-killed spruce forests on the Kenai Peninsula. These projects include field data collected on Yukon Flats, Kanuti, Tetlin and Kenai refuges and the results will have applicability throughout the state. Nearly all of these proposals have multiple partnerships showing strong collaboration throughout the state. The Joint Fire Science Program will announce its selections in March 2006. Regardless of the outcome of the process, Alaska National Wildlife Refuges are making important contributions through partnerships to advance our understanding of fire in Alaska ecosystems.

back to headlines

Back to News Archives

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.