The History and Evolution of Wildland Fire Use

Abstract

Wildland fi re use as a concept had its origin when humans fi rst gained the ability to suppress fi res. Some fi res were suppressed and others were allowed to burn based on human values and objectives. Native Americans and Euro-American settlers fought those fi res that threatened their villages and settlements but left others to burn unabated. Even with the advent of a fi re suppression capability in the late 1880s, control efforts were focused on areas of human development while fi res in remote areas were largely ignored. When the Forest Service was established in 1905, fi re suppression became its reason for being, although some foresters questioned the economic logic of suppressing all fi res. Fire suppression was the only fi re policy for all federal land management agencies until the late 1960s when the National Park Service offi cially recognized fi re as a natural process. Lightning fi res ignited in special management zones in parks were allowed to run their course under prescribed conditions. The Forest Service followed suit in 1974 and changed its policy from fi re control to fi re management, allowing lightning fi res to burn in wilderness areas. The programs in both agencies grew slowly as managers became comfortable with allowing fi res to burn under controlled conditions. Various terms were used to describe these programs including “Let Burn,” “Prescribed Natural Fire,” and now “Wildland Fire Use.” Setbacks such as the Yellowstone fi res in 1988 and the Cerro Grande fi re in 2000 resulted in reviews and updates of federal fi re management policies. The Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Indian Affairs joined the other two agencies by implementing fi re use programs in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Today wildland fi re use is a vital link in the fi re and fuels programs of each of the federal land management agencies with nearly 6,000 fi res burning over 1,400,000 ha (3,500,000 ac) annually. The future of restoring fi re to fi re-prone ecosystems will have to rely on increasing the use of wildland fi re. Keywords: