Loss of Fire

To-Do Date: May 3 at 9:30am

In the previous assignments, you learned about some of the important ecosystems in California, and the importance of both natural fire and cultural fire in these systems.   The question remains: what is causing the dramatic increase in the size, intensity and frequency of fires?    There isn't a single answer to that question, rather there are several contributors to the increasing frequency and destructiveness of fires in California. On this page we will examine the loss of fire and fire supression 

 

Factors Leading to Increased Fire  Loss of Fire and Fire suppression Timber harvesting practices  Climate change The increasing wildland/urban interface.

Study Guide Questions

4. What has lead to the loss of fire in California? 

• • Why did the Spanish stop the use of cultural fire by indigenous Californians?
  • What role did the Big Burn have in shaping the US Forest Service?
  • What was the  US Forest Service's policy on fire up until the 1970s?
  • In what way did this policy lead to the super fires that we see today?

Loss of Indigenous Fire

The loss of fire resulted from the forced removal of Native Americans from lands in which they'd lived and stewarded for thousands of years. This included intentional policies to end the use of cultural burns where native people remained.  1911 federal legislation made it illegal to ignite fires on public forest lands, curtailing cultural management by native Karuk, Yurok, and Hupa people in the North Coast Ranges, who continued to live in villages within their tribal territories.  We  have seen how tribes are reclaiming their tradition of cultural burns and leading on forest management.  This is the second half of the video you watched on the previous page. 

 

 

 

 

Fire Suppression

In addition to the loss of fires ignited by native tribes, fires that were started naturally were also quickly suppressed.  Fire suppression efforts were largely carried out by the United States Forest Service (USFS) beginning in the early 1900s. Below is a clip from the PBS documentary The Big Burn based in Timothy Egan's excellent book of the same name. 

You may want to watch the whole film, and I've put the link and access information in the Optional Resources. I highly recommend this book for those of you who use USFS lands for recreation as an eye-opening glimpse into the founding of the Agency and a massive fire that shaped its future and the future (now present) conditions of our public lands.   Note, this film contains images of destructive fires.

 

Watch this clip from the Big Burn 

 

Tying it All Together

 In this video, I review what we have learned about fire in California, plant adaptations to fire, the origins of fire suppression