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1 1 (May 4, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govedey0001 and id is 1 raw text is: irdorminQ th~ legislative debate since flIA 9 Updated May 4, 2021 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 federallands. 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(NFS). The Department of the Interior (DOI) manages wildfire response for more than 400 million acres ofnationalparks, wildlife refuges and preserves, otherpublic lands, andIndianreservations. Wildfire statistics help to illustratepastU.S. wildfire activity. Nationwide data compiled by the National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) indicate that the numberofannualwildfires is variable but has decreased slightly over the las t 30 years and that the number of acres impacted annually, while also variable, generally has increased(see Figure 1). Since 2000, an annual average of 70,600 wildfires burned an annual average of 7.0 million acres. This figure is more than double the average annual acreage burned in the 1990s (3.3 million acres), althougha greater number of fires occurred annually in the 1990s (78,600 average). Table I . Annual Wildfires and Acres Burned 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Number of Fires (thousands) Federal 12.6 15.2 12.5 10.9 14A FS 5.7 6.6 5.6 5.3 6.7 DOI 6.8 7.3 7.0 5.3 7.6 Other <0.1 1.2 0.1 0.2 <0.1 Nonfederal 55.2 56A 45.6 39.6 44.6 Total 67.7 71.5 58.1 50.5 59.0 Acres Burned (millions) Federal 3.0 6.3 4.6 3.1 7.1 FS 1.2 2.9 2.3 0.6 4.8 DOI 1.7 3.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 Other <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 Nonfederal 2.5 3.7 4.1 1.6 3.1 Total 5.5 10.0 8.8 4.7 10.1 Source: National InteragencyCoordinationCenter (NICC) Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics ann ual reports. Notes: FS = Forest Service; DOI = Department of the Interior. Column totals may not add due to rounding. Figure I. Annual Wildfires and Acres Burned (199 1-2020) Fires~ thotusonds Acres burnedmillons 12.0 12 100 10 60 6 40 4 20 2 Source: NICC Wildland Fire Summaryand Statisticsannual reports. Note: Data reflect wildland fires and acres burned nationwide, including wildland fires on federal and nonfederal lands. From 2011 to 2020, there were an average of 62,805 wildfires annually and an average of 7.5 million acres impacted annually. According to NICC, 58,950 wildfires burned 10.1 million acres in 2020, the second-most acreage impacted in a year (see Figure 2) since 1960; nearly 40% of these acres were in California. Nearly half of the acres impactedwere on NFS lands. These officialfigures fromNICC reflect downward revisions fromearlier reported data for 2020. Figure 2. Top Five Years with Largest Wildfire Acreage Burned Since 1960 Year Acresburned (millions) NumberofFires 2015 68.2 2020 59.C7 2017 71L5 2006 9.796.4 2007 67.8 Source: NICC Wildland Fire Summaryand Statisticsannual reports. Note: Numberof fires in thousands. The number of fires and acreage burned are indicators of the annual level of wildfire activity. However, these numbers may be misleading with respect to their impact on human developmentorcommunities since many fires may occur in large, relatively undeveloped areas. Acreage burned also does not indicate the severity of the wildfire, ittps://crsreports.congress.gov

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