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WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT

Wildland fire (i.e., forest, grassland and prairie fires) is a natural phenomenon that plays a vital role in many ecosystems. From triggering regeneration in jack pine stands to releasing soil nutrients in ponderosa pine forests, the ecological significance of forest fires is increasingly being considered by natural resource managers. However, while it is important to recognize the ecological value of wildland fires, it is also necessary to consider the risks they pose to the environment and to people. These fires can quickly grow out of control, damaging delicate ecosystems and leading to the loss of commercially, socially, and ecologically valuable forest stands. Likewise, wildland fires may threaten people’s lives, property, and security. Decades of policies aimed at blanket fire suppression have further complicated the matter by leaving many wildland areas laden with unnaturally high fuel loads and thus prone to intense and potentially catastrophic wildfires. As such, wildland fire management is an intricate process that must balance two objectives: restoring and maintaining fire as a necessary natural disturbance and minimizing the risks that fire poses to people and the environment.

Because of the need to balance these conflicting objectives, wildland fire management has become an increasingly important issue for both land managers and stakeholders, as indicated by recent changes in fire management policies. Perhaps the most controversial element of contemporary wildland fire management is the increasing use of prescribed burning as a means of both reducing the risks of future wildfires and restoring natural fire regimes. These burns include the use of intentionally lit, controlled fires as well as allowing certain natural fires to burn as prescribed-natural fires; the use of both as a management tool affects different stakeholders in a variety of ways. Over the long term, prescribed burning is an important management tool that works to reduce unnatural fuel loads that have accumulated through years of fire suppression and poor forest management, thereby reducing the risk to stakeholders stemming from potential intense and potentially catastrophic wildfires in the future. In the near term, however, prescribed fires may negatively affect air quality and those that escape (i.e., fires that burn outside of intended boundaries and conditions) can threaten local, state and national parks while timber-harvesting companies may lose access to important resources. Escaped prescribed fires may also compromise the land investments of both industrial and non-industrial private landowners. This complex interplay between the short and long-term risks and benefits of prescribed and natural wildland fires creates a significant challenge for managers charged with the implementation of policies aimed at restoring natural fire regimes.

See:

Arvai, J. L., R. Gregory, D. Ohlson, B. A. Blackwell, and R. W. Gray. 2006. Letdowns, wake-up calls, and constructed preferences: People's responses to fuel and wildfire risks. Journal of Forestry 104:173-181. [DOWNLOAD]

Zaksek, M., and J. L. Arvai. 2004. Communicating the risks of wildland fire: Using mental models research to identify risk communication needs for natural resource management. Risk Analysis 24:1503-1514. [DOWNLOAD]