|
Fire
Management
Current Wildfires
Cooperating Agencies
Fire Jobs
Fire Cache
Fire Science
Fire Safety
Fire Learning Network
Heritage Resources
Limits of Acceptable Change
Law Enforcement
Maps and Brochures
Newsroom
Passes and Permits
Planning and Projects
Recreation Activities
Natural Resources
Safety
Volunteering USDA Forest Service
Daniel Boone
National Forest
1700 Bypass Road
Winchester, KY 40391
Phone: 859-745-3100
FAX: 859-744-1568
Fire Management: Science
Fire Behavior | Fire Causes | FAQs | Fire History | Prescribed Burning | Fire Seasons
Since the beginning of time, fires have burned in the forest, playing a vital role in keeping the land healthy. Fire reduces dead vegetation, replenishes nutrients in the soil, stimulates new growth, and maintains biological diversity. As civilization moved deeper into the forest, fire came to be seen as an enemy that destroyed lives, property and natural resources. As a result, the nation demanded that the Forest Service exclude fire from our environment, and we were mostly successful for decades.
Over time, it became apparent that our success had many unforeseen consequences. Without fire, our forests became overcrowded and vulnerable to attacks by insects and disease.
Today, we know that fire is essential to the health of our forest. Since conditions in many areas are conducive to large, severe wildland fires, and because so many people now live in or near forests, we need fires to burn in a more controlled way than is usually possible when they are caused by naturally occurring events such as lightning strikes. In order to restore fire to its natural role in the forest, we ignite prescribed fires in the spring and fall when conditions allow for slow, low intensity burning.
Our forests need fire. By igniting prescribed fires, we can maximize the chance that they will burn on our terms with acceptable effects. Or, we can wait until they burn on their own terms, with no control over the effects. The choice is ours.
Forests, Forest Fires, and Their Makers: The Story of Cliff Palace Pond
by Paul A. Delcourt, Hazel R. Delcourt, Cecil R. Ison, William E. Sharp, and A. Gwynn Henderson
This publication documents how two sciences, archaeology and paleoecology, came together in a research project that confirmed archaeologists' ideas about the changing land use patterns of the First Americans along the western edge of the Appalachian Mountains.
Soil core studies from this site on the Daniel Boone National Forest show how American Indians used fire to manage the environment for over 3,000 years. This understanding of ancient practices will help guide forest management for the future.
Title: Fire Management
Last Updated:
May 4, 2007
