National Fire Plan Success Story

Partnership Support Prescribed Fire Module
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, North Dakota
National Fire Plan - Fuels Reduction
2009

For the second year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service have collaborated to form a 5-person engine crew to conduct prescribed burning. In early March 2009, two FWS firefighters from North Dakota joined that crew to burn more than 6,500 acres. The group worked on ten burn units at Buffalo National River in Missouri and to Ozark National Scenic Riverways in Arkansas.

“A benefit of the program is that not only do we help each other out,” said Chad Wimer, Prescribed Fire and Fuels Technician from Audubon National Wildlife Refuge in North Dakota. “But we also get an opportunity to work on training and taskbooks tied to leadership positions in the prescribed fire organization.”

The burn module is established for a two-week period each year and travels to areas to complete priority burns designated by either agency. The land management agency hosting the burn takes the lead on ensuring that ignition methods appropriate for the fuel type are used in order to meet the burn objectives such as hazardous fuels reduction and habitat management designated for the area.