Living with Fire

Name ______________________

1. Circle the kind of forest you choose to work in:

Old growth ponderosa pine

back in the woods

far from human settlement

Young ponderosa pine

closer to settled areas

near homes & buildings

2. Circle two treatments you choose to compare:

No treatment:

Let nature

take its course

Thin small trees

from under

the larger ones

Thin small trees

from under the larger trees,

then burn with surface fire

3. Compare the appearance of your forest one year after the two treatments. Do the two cartoon forests look alike? Can you see some differences?

4. Find out how a wildland fire will behave after each of your treatments. In the table below, use a few words to describe the flames, the fire’s effects on big trees, and the fire’s effects on small trees.

Weather conditions	Your first treatment	Your second treatment
Low-danger weather	Flames:______________ Big trees: ____________ Small trees: __________	Flames:______________ Big trees: ____________ Small trees: __________
Moderate-danger weather	Flames:______________ Big trees: ____________ Small trees: __________	Flames:______________ Big trees: ____________ Small trees: __________
High fire danger weather	Flames:______________ Big trees: ____________ Small trees: __________	Flames:______________ Big trees: ____________ Small trees: __________

5. Describe one benefit and one disadvantage of each treatment.

6. On the back, write a paragraph that explains when you think it is a good idea to "just monitor" a wildland fire, and when it is good to use all-out suppression efforts.