Today, the Department of the Interior announced it had doubled and tripled targets set by President Donald Trump for vegetative treatments to reduce wildfire risk in Fiscal Year 2019, marking the largest fuel load reduction in a decade. The announcement comes as the land management agencies with wildland fire programs—the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service—report their end-of-year accomplishments and begin preparations for the next fire year.
“These accomplishments reflect the Department’s commitment to the President’s goals for reducing wildfire risk and protecting our communities and resources,” said Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt. “We took action by maximizing wildfire management efforts across the Department and deploying needed resources to reduce the intensity and impacts of wildfires. This is an issue that impacts the whole country. We’re looking broadly at what we can do to reduce wildfire risk.”
In California crews reduced fuel loads on nearly 39,000 acres of DOI-administered lands, mitigated severe flooding and erosion on 4,000 acres, treated over 3,000 acres for invasive species, and improved access for emergency services and restoration efforts on more than 1,000 miles of public roads. Also in California, the Department's Timber Program lowered the risk of wildfire by offering 16 million board feet of lumber for sale.
In December 2018 the President issued Executive Order 13855, directing the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to promote active management of America’s forests and rangelands to reduce wildfire risk with specific targets for actions. The Order emphasized the importance of collaboration with state and local institutions to address the challenges of wildland fire. Secretary Bernhardt followed by issuing Secretary’s Order 3372, directing the Department of the Interior to accomplish goals for reducing wildfire risk. These include prescribed fires, removing burnable vegetation, and protecting lands from post-fire erosion.
Over the past ten years, an average of nearly 60,000 wildfires burned 6.7 million acres in the U.S. each year. The Department of the Interior manages a one-billion-dollar wildland fire management program employing more than 4,500 firefighters across the country to reduce wildfire risk, rehabilitate burned landscapes, and promote a better understanding of wildfire over 500 million acres of lands Interior-managed lands and tribal lands.