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Montana

Crews Contain Refuge Fire

July 2008

The 457-acre Duck Fire, which ignited by lightning on July 28 on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in north-central Montana, was called out by firefighters just days after it started. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and county firefighters worked hard to catch and extinguish the fire which burned 25 miles southwest of Fort Peck.

Fire managers from the refuge praise the effort from refuge firefighters as well as those which assisted from cooperating federal, state, and local fire agencies.  Six engines and a helicopter helped douse the fire. Suppression costs are estimated to be around $60,000.

Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge is 1.1 million acres in size. Due to its size and remoteness, the area has changed very little from the time of Lewis and Clark. Elk, mule deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, sage and sharp-tailed grouse, and bald eagles make the refuge home. Hunting, fishing, boating, camping, wildlife watching and photography, hiking, and horseback riding are popular activities for visitors to the refuge.

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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.