How We Manage Fires

Almost every type of ecosystem on land has been influenced by fire. Fires are part of nature’s cycle of renewal and re-growth. They are similar to droughts, floods, storms, and other natural disturbances that have quick and direct impact on plants and animals. Forest landscapes are made up of trees and other plants at various stages of their life cycle. Just as humans progress from children, to adolescents, to adults, forests progress through successional stages.

Managing fire in the forest presents us with several challenges. Fire is dangerous to people and property and, for most of the last century, people have wanted to eliminate fire. But as described and illustrated above, fire is part of the natural ecological system that has functioned for 10,000 years.

For decades Smokey Bear taught everyone that - Only you can prevent forest fires. Today we understand that this message to prevent dangerous fires was only part of the story. Some fires are still part of the natural disturbance pattern. Forest fires are natural. They would occur from lightning even in the absence of human activity, especially in very dry years.

We now recognize that fire suppression is important to protect people, property and forests, but that too little fire in some areas can decrease forest health and increase the risk of catastrophic fires. Almost a century of development and fire control has led to a forest that is, in some places, different than nature would have created – filled with old, dead, and dying trees. Natural fires have not been completely allowed to fulfill their function of removing old forest cover, dense underbrush, and debris.

Prescribed burns can be a useful approach where the buildup of flammable materials is excessive. But lighting fires or letting fires burn is risky. There are few days in the summer when a fire can burn to do good, without burning so aggressively it would do damage. The forest is valued for several reasons other than its naturalness. People are dependent on forest resources for their livelihood and fires may be costly to a wide variety of forest users. Fire can wipe out thousands of hectares of valuable timber, threaten lives and communities, disrupt daily life and cause loss or damage to private and commercial property. Prescribed burns must be planned and carried out carefully.

People are exposed to a wide variety of information about forest fires. As such, their views and perceptions are constantly changing. For example, in 1968, National Geographic published an article titled Forest Fire: The Devil’s Picnic. The article described large forest fires and methods of attempting to extinguish the fires that the devil set on his picnic last night. Almost 30 years later, in 1996, National Geographic published another article on forest fires titled, The Essential Element of Fire which described fire as a gift. One thing is for certain; with or without people, forest fires are an essential component of nature.

To manage and understand fire, we classify fires into categories such as size and intensity. In reality, however, just as no two snowflakes are the same, no two fires are the same. We need to look at the risks and objectives related to each fire, and determine the right course of action.

The issue is no longer just how to prevent forest fires. The issue now is how to provide protection for the health, safety, and property of people living near the forests and to allow fire to fulfill its ecological role in some forests.
 

• Prescribed Burns