WASHINGTON - Despite the slowest start to a wildfire season in a decade, the head of the U.S. Forest Service says his agency is preparing for another busy year, but with fewer firefighters.

Chief Tom Tidwell tells The Associated Press that late winter storms have helped, but the South and Southwestern U.S. are expected to dry out heading into May and June.

That will give way to a season much like last year, when more than 14,500 square miles were charred. That's an area bigger than the state of Maryland.

A dozen lives were lost last year, and more than 2,200 homes and businesses were destroyed.

New Mexico and Colorado reported record fire seasons in 2012. Two fires, the High Park Fire and the Waldo Canyon Fire caused more than $450 million in damage to homes and vehicles.

Even though its winter, in 2013, wildfires have burned in Larimer County and Douglas County this year. The Fern Lake Fire in Rocky Mountain National Park that started last October continues to burn underneath a layer of snow, according to park officials.

In all, the Forest Service oversees about 193 million acres in 43 states.

Tidwell says the agency's preparedness budget has been trimmed by 5 percent this year, meaning there will be about 500 fewer firefighters and 50 fewer engines.