BLM REA YKL 2011 Alaska Fire History

The Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service (AFS) located at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, provides wildland fire suppression services for all Department of the Interior and Native Corporation Lands in Alaska. In addition to suppressing wildland fires, AFS has other statewide responsibilities, including: interpretation of fire management policy; oversight of the BLM Alaska Aviation program; planning, implementing, and monitoring fuels management projects; disposing of hazardous materials; and operating and maintaining advanced communication and computer systems such as the Alaska Lightning Detection System [requires JavaScript]. AFS operates on an interagency basis - cooperators include the Bureau of Land Management, State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources, USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Military in Alaska. Historical data on fire in this region are available from the BLM. The available reliable data starts in 1940. Given that remote sensing, GIS, and other fire detection and mapping technology has improved radically during the past 75 years, historical analysis of fire are limited to assessing overall size of burn scars. Although burn severity is a very important factor in determining long-term ecological outcomes post-fire, detailed information on patchiness of burns or severity of burns is, unfortunately, not available.