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Wildland fire protection is the primary responsibility for Florida Forest Service employees in Indian River County. Our services include wildfire detection and suppression, plowing or harrowing pre -suppression firelines, prescribed burning, wildfire mitigation mowing, chopping, and conducting wildfire prevention programs. The following is a breakdown of fire management activities performed by the Florida Forest Service in Indian River County for fiscal year 2013-2014. The Florida Forest Service suppressed 14 wildfires in Indian River County on 324.3 acres, 92.66 percent of these fires were caused by lighting. The Florida Forest Service issued 669 burn authorizations to customers in Indian River County. There were authorizations issued for pile burning primarily agriculture including citrus and pasture operations. The acreage authorizations encompassed 27,102 acres and included silvicultural / hazard removal, silvicultural wildlife, and pasture / range management. Acreage burning for silvicultural Hazard removal came in at 22,305 acres with just 6 authorizations. For fiscal year 2013/2014, Indian River County was assessed $13,821.36 for fire management services on 197,448 acres. To reduce the threat of wildfires, Florida Forest Service employees in Indian River County plowed pre -suppression fire lines on 60 acres for 2 landowners. In addition to pre -suppression firelines, the Florida Forest Service protected structures by mitigation mowing, roller chopping, and plowing 100 acres of woodlands in urban interface areas in cooperation with Indian River County Conservation. The structures protected are valued at approximately $10 million dollars. The Florida Forest Service cooperates with Indian River County Fire Rescue and Florida Park Service by working together to extinguish wildfires as well as leasing federal excess vehicles and equipment. One (1) heavy truck is currently leased to the Florida Park Service in Sebastian. Fire Prevention programs are essential to reduce the occurrence of human -caused fires. The Florida Forest Service has been tremendously successful in using Smokey Bear Programs to teach children about fire safety. Teens and adults are also educated to use fire responsibly and taught the difference between good fires and bad fires. Last year the wildfire prevention message was taken to the Firefighters Fair, Relay ONL i for Life event, and other events in the community. We also continue to reach out and stay diligent with the fire prevention message whenever the opportunity presents itself. In all activities, our mission is to protect and manage the forest resources of Florida, ensuring that they are available for future generations. 1 5