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1 1 (June 1, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govelvf0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service 0 Updated June 1, 2023 Wildfire Statistics Wildfires are unplanned fires, including lightning-caused fires, unauthorized human-caused fires, and escaped fires from prescribed burn projects. States are responsible for responding to wildfires that begin on nonfederal (state, local, and private) lands, except for lands protected by federal agencies under cooperative agreements. The federal government is responsible for responding to wildfires that begin on federal lands. The Forest Service (FS)-within the U.S. Department of Agriculture-carries out wildfire management and response 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 of national parks, wildlife refuges and preserves, other public lands, and Indian reservations. Wildfire statistics help illustrate past U.S. wildfire activity. Nationwide data compiled by the National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) indicate that the number of annual wildfires is variable but has decreased slightly over the last 30 years. The number of acres affected annually, while also variable, generally has increased (see Figure 1). Since 2000, an annual average of 70,025 wildfires have burned an annual average of 7.0 million acres. The acreage 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 on average (78,600). Table 1. Annual Wildfires and Acres Burned 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Number of Fires (thousands) Federal 12.5 10.9 14.4 14.0 11.7 FS 5.6 5.3 6.7 6.2 5.9 DOI 7.0 5.3 7.6 7.6 5.8 Other 0.1 0.2 <0.1 0.2 0.1 Nonfederal 45.6 39.6 44.6 45.0 57.2 Total 58.1 50.5 59.0 59.0 69.0 Acres Burned (millions) Federal 4.6 3.1 7.1 5.2 4.0 FS 2.3 0.6 4.8 4.1 1.9 DOI 2.3 2.3 2.3 1.0 2.1 Other <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 Nonfederal 4.1 1.6 3.1 1.9 3.6 Total 8.8 4.7 10.1 7.1 7.6 Source: National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics annual reports. Notes: FS = Forest Service; DOI = Department of the Interior. Column totals may not sum precisely due to rounding. Figure I. Annual Wildfires and Acres Burned, 1993-2022 Fires 60 Acres burned, mi//ions 12 8 6 4 2 Acresburne Source: NICC Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics annual reports. Note: Data reflect wildland fires and acres burned nationwide, including wildland fires on federal and nonfederal lands. From 2013 to 2022, there were an average of 61,410 wildfires annually and an average of 7.2 million acres impacted annually. In 2022, 68,988 wildfires burned 7.6 million acres. Over 40% of those acres were in Alaska (3.1 million acres). As of June 1, 2023, around 18,300 wildfires have impacted over 511,000 acres this year. Figure 2. Top Five Years with Largest Wildfire Acreage Burned Since 1960 Year Acres burnedr (illions) Number of Fires 2015 2020 2017 2006 2007 Source: NICC Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics annual reports. Note: Number of fires in thousands. The number of fires and acreage burned are indicators of the annual level of wildfire activity. These numbers may not be indicative of fire's impact on human development or communities, since many fires occur in large, relatively undeveloped areas. Acreage burned also does not indicate the severity of a wildfire, the degree of impact upon forests or soils, or other ecological effects. Most wildfires are human-caused (89% of the average number of wildfires from 2018 to 2022). Wildfires caused by lightning tend to be slightly larger and to burn more acreage (53% of the average acreage burned from 2018 to 2022) than human-caused fires. https://crsreports .co ngress.go%

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