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California WUI Project Removes Nuisance Buildings, Reduces Chances of Unplanned Fire

Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge - 2001

Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge near Sacramento completed a fuels reduction project in 2001 that involved tearing out an old ranch house that was a trespasser hangout for years, along with other outbuildings that were fire hazards. Crews removed brush and debris as well to reduce firefighter hazards.

California Conservation Crews worked under contract on the project to help Service employees remove trees from fire hazard areas on the refuge and prepare them for delivery to nearby Brannan Island State Park. The California Department of Parks and Recreation stockpiled and distributed the wood at the park to prevent campers from cutting down trees there for firewood.

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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.