Thesis on "Evolution and History of Fire Science in the United States"

Thesis 5 pages (1321 words) Sources: 3 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Evolution and History Of Fire Science in the United States

The work of Gregory H. Aplet (2006) entitled: "Evolution of Wilderness Fire Policy" published in the International Journal of Wilderness states that ecosystems have been "shaped by fire" and as well wilderness policy "has been affected by fire policy..." (Aplet, 2006, p.9) It is related by Aplet that the Wilderness Act and "subsequent wilderness bills have addressed fire, and policy has evolved to recognize the free play of fire as a natural process. Similarly fire policy has evolved to accommodate the peculiar demands of wilderness." (Aplet, 2006, p.9) This process was one of 'co-evolution' and Aplet relates that its origin is in the '...confluence of ecological thought and wilderness philosophy that occurred in the late 20th century. For most of the century, fire was considered a universal threat to people, resources, and wildlands." (2006, p.9)

1896 NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION (NFPA) ESTABLISHED

In 1986 the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) was established for the purpose of making provision of a voluntary basis for technical information and standards as well as making recommendations for procedures and practices concerning fire safety. (Leong, nd, p. 1)

II. WILDERNESS ACT OF 1964

Aplet relates that the realization of fire as playing a critical role in "sustaining species and maintaining the character of ecosystems" was realization through the "observations of foresters like Aldo Leopold (1924) and Elers Koch (Arno and Fiedler 2005) added to the research of scientists such as Harold Weaver (1943) and Herb Stoddard (1935)..." (Aplet, 2006, p.9) According to applet a panel of ecologists in 1963 "...responded to the National Park Service's request for a management review with the suggestion that "The goal [of park management] is to maintain or create the mood of wild America" (Leopold et al. 1963).

They recommended fire be restored to the national parks. Passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964 represented the culmination of the "fight for the freedom of the wilderness" begun by John Muir and sworn to by Robert Marshall (1930) and the other founders of the Wilderness Society in 1935." (2006, p.9)

The Wilderness Act states that wilderness retains "its primeval character and influence [and] generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature." (Aplet, 2006, p.10) Forces of nature quite clearly includes that of fire.

III. HISTORY OF WILDERNESS FIRE POLICY- THE BEGINNING: 1910

Wilderness fire policy was first realized as being needed in 1910 when millions of acres were burned in the states of Idaho and Montana in which 86 people were killed and entire communities were decimated. Because of the horror and loss of life and homes in the 1910 fires the policy was one of "intolerance and all-out suppression of fire throughout most of the 20th century." (Aplet, 2006, p.10)

IV. POLICY SHIFT IN 1968

Finally in 1968 a shift in policy occurred with the National Park Service and in 1978 the USDA Forest Service followed with policy that would allow some natural fires to burn "in specified locations under previously identified conditions." (Aplet, 2006, p.10) Aplet states that for twenty years this "prescribed natural fire (PNF) policy spread from its original application in California to national parks and wilderness areas across the country." (2006, p.11) However, in 1988 when fires which were successively allowed to burn in Yellowstone National Park due to "extreme fire weather...blew up into the largest fire event in the United States since that catalyzing year of 1910." (Aplet, 2006, p.11) Federal officials promptly rescinded the PNF policy however, a federal review board following the fires at Yellowstone "concluded that the objectives of prescribed natural fire programs were sound." (Aplet, 2006, p.12)

Figure 1

Natural Fire Acres Burned in National Park Service Lands 1967-1998

Source: Aplet (2006)

V. MISSOULA: 1983

According to James K. Agee ( ) Wilderness fire science "Wilderness fire has presented both managers and scientists with considerable challenges over the 30 years that wilderness fire programs have been operational.… READ MORE

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