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Wildfire Threat Reduced on Oahu

Pearl Harbor National Wildlife Refuge - 2004

The Kalaeloa Unit of Pearl Harbor National Wildlife Refuge began work on reducing the severe fire hazard created by extreme accumulations of thick vegetation, made worse by drought in recent years. The vegetation grew on top of ancient coral reef that is now above sea level.

Local contractors were employed to use machines to mow down mesquite trees, brush, buffalo grass and pluchea shrubs. Ridding the refuge of this flammable vegetation will help prevent wildfire threats to two nearby residential communities as well as the adjacent Honolulu airport.

The potential for a catastrophic wildfire was reduced when Pearl Harbor National Wildlife Refuge was treated with prescribed fire. (USFWS)

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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.