The Ecology of Fire

Wildland fire management, including prevention, control, and fire use is a process affecting us all.

• Prevention includes education and other actions that reduce uncontrolled wildland fires.
• Control is action taken on wildland fires to protect life, and to reduce damage to resources and property.
• Fire Use is the application of prescribed fire, and the planned use of wildland fire, to meet specific resource objectives including habitat improvement, fuels reduction, species regeneration, or reduction of wildfire hazard.

Wildlands are always changing, sometimes subtly and sometimes dramatically. Fire is one of the important natural agents of change.

• Fire has helped shape North America's wild areas for thousands of years - its presence is essential for the survival of many plants and animals.
• Historic patterns of wildland fire varied from one place to another, depending on climate, type of vegetation, and human influence.
• Present fire patterns differ substantially from historic patterns.
• The effects of fire range from subtle to extreme - and are influenced by the condition of the fuels that burn and the weather variables that directly affect the fire.

We've learned that the lack of periodic fire in many wild areas increases risks to society and the environment.

• Large destructive fires result from fuel accumulations above historic levels.
• Both firefighters and the public risk loss of life or serious injury.
• Intense or long-lasting smoke caused by large uncontrolled fire can impact air quality and seriously affect respiratory health.
• The costs of controlling larger and more damaging wildland fires have risen dramatically.
• Valuable landscapes, private property, and natural resources are at risk.
• Wildlife and their habitats are at risk.
• Intense and uncontrolled wildfire risks serious damage to soil, watersheds, and air quality.

Much of the danger of destructive fire can be reduced through the increased application of prescribed fire and the planned use of wildland fire.

We all need to:

• Become better informed about the prevention, control, and use of fire.
• Learn about the beneficial effects of fire.
• Plan and prepare for wildland fire protection and use.
• Accept the trade-off between the manageable smoke of prescribed fire and the more severe impacts of uncontrolled wildfire.
• Create incentives for maintaining fire-safe homes and communities.

Effective use of wildland fire and prescribed fire applications will provide substantial benefits to both society and the environment, including:

• Increased safety for both firefighters and the public.
• Minimized effects of inevitable smoke production on visibility and public health.
• Minimized damage from uncontrolled wildfire.
• Protection of fire-dependent plants and animals.
• Improved habitat, watersheds, grasslands, and forest ecosystems.

Fire is an important and inevitable part of America's wildlands. It's now widely recognized that we must restore fire to many areas from which it has been excluded. Wildland fires can produce both benefits and damages - to the environment and to people's interests. By working together, people can maximize the benefits of wildland fire and minimize the damages, including threats to public health.