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1 1 (August 20, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govebwd0001 and id is 1 raw text is: I ormY~ ~ I~g71 t e ince 1~14 S Updated August 20, 2020 Wildfire Statistics Wildfires are unplanned and unwanted fires, including lightning-caused fires, unauthorized human-caused fires, and escaped prescribedfire projects. States are responsible for responding to wildfires that begin on nonfederal (state, local, and private) lands, except for lands protectedby federal agencies under cooperative agreements. The federal government is responsible forresponding to wildfires that begin on federal lands. The Forest Service (FS)-within the U.S. Department of Agriculture-carries out wildfire management andresponse across the 193 million acres of the National Forest System The Department of the Interior (DOI) manages wildfire response for more than 400 million acres of national parks, wildlife refuges and preserves, other public lands, and Indianreservations. Wildfire statistics help to illustratepastU.S. wildfire activity. Nationwide data compiled by the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) indicate thatthe number of annual wildfires is variable but has decreased slightly over the last 30 years and that the number of acres burned annually, while also variable, generally has increased (see Figure 1). Every year since 2000, an average of71,300 wildfires burned an average of 6.9 million acres. This figure is more than double the average annual acreage burned in the 1990s (3.3 million acres), although a greater number of fires occurred annually in the 1990s (78,600 on average). Table 1 . Annual Wildfires and Acres Burned 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Number of Fires (thousands) Federal 13.8 12.6 15.2 12.5 10.9 FS 7.1 5.7 6.6 5.6 5.3 DOI 6.6 6.8 7.3 7.0 5.3 Nonfederal 54.4 55.2 56.4 45.6 39.6 Total 68.2 67.7 71.5 58.1 50.5 Acres Burned (millions) Federal 7.41 3.00 6.3 4.6 3.1 FS 1.92 1.25 2.9 2.3 0.6 DOI 5.47 1.70 3.3 2.3 2.3 Nonfederal 2.72 2.51 3.7 4.1 1.6 Total 10.13 5.51 10.0 8.8 4.7 Source: National Interagency Fire Center (N I FC). Notes: Federal includesfires that began on land managed bythe Forest Service (FS), Department of the Interior (DOI), and other federal agencies (not listed). Nonfederal includes all other lands. Column totals may not add due to rounding. Figure 1. Annual Wildfires and Acres Burned (1990-2019) Source: National InteragencyFire Center (NIFC). Note: Data reflect wildland fires and acres burned nationwide, including wildland fires on federal and nonfederal lands. Over the past 10years, there were an average of 64,100 wildfires annually and an average of 6.8 million acres burned annually. In 2019, 50,477 wildfires burned 4.7 million acres nationwide, below the annual average forboth statistics. More thanhalf of the acreage burned in 2019 was in Alaska (2.5 million acres), which was the only area that experienced significantly above-average wildfire activity for the year. The 2015 fire season was the largest onrecoid, with 10.1 million acres burned (seeFigure 2); more than half of these acres were in Alaska (5.1 million acres). As of August 20, 2020, over 37,000 wildfires have burned 2.7 million acres this year. The nationwide preparedness levelis at the maximum level (5), indicating significant commitment of shared resources. Figure 2. Top Five Years with Largest Wildfire Acreage Burned Since 1960 Year Acres burned (millions) Number of Fires 2015 68.2 2017 71. 2006 96,4 2007 9.385.7' 2012 6.33 8 Source: NIFC. The number offires and acreageburned are indicators of the annual level of wildfire activity, but they may be misleading, since many fires may occur in large, relatively undeveloped areas, with very little impact to human development or communities. Acreage burned also does not https://crsreports.congress.gov Fires thousands 120 Fires 80 fro 404 202 'o 11(-f C'S fJ lJt li'; 12 In P t 4 aurned

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