The Ecological Role of Fire in Natural Conifer Forests of Western and Northern North America - Introduction

Forest fires have been the bane of forest managers, resource analysts, and the public ever since the timberlands of the Great Lakes area and the western mountains were opened for exploitation or designated for preservation. The psychological stage was set during the early years of commercial timber cutting, when escaped slash fires burned several towns to the ground, killed thousands of people, and destroyed the young regeneration and remnants of uncut forest on literally millions of acres. Whether the forest was to be cut for timber or set aside for preservation as a natural feature, it was assumed that fires were destructive and should be prevented at all costs. Laws were passed to require the disposal of slash by safe methods in timbered areas, but insufficient care was used and fires continued to escape....