The National Fire Plan, which guides today’s policy, recognizes the role of fire as an essential ecological process. But such has not always been the case. Until recent years, many natural areas have evolved with man, instead of Mother Nature, at the wheel, by removing fire from the Cycle of Life.

But how do we know the effects of past fires, when there are no actual records of these events? The Lab of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, by examining a cross section of pine, found that by reading the tree’s rings, much like we read a book today, a story of fire is told. In this case, a fire burned around this tree an average of every 7 years during a 93-year period, from 1815-1907 *(Fire & the Changing Land, 1989). Numerous animals, plants, and birds, like the tree, are what scientists call “fire dependent.”

Today, we are faced with the challenge of reintroducing fire into an ecosystem with very different conditions than existed in 1907: increased numbers of people are living in wildland areas; ground fuels from already dead trees are everywhere; and older forests are weak from insects and disease.

Fires, burning under the right conditions, can reduce the amount of ground fuel, alleviating the potential for a catastrophic wildfire. In addition, removing ground fuel accumulation allows wildlife easier access to the forest. Insects, like spruce beetle and diseases like mistletoe, are held in check by fire, maintaining healthy stands of trees. Fire returns nutrients to the soil, encouraging a diversity of plant and animal communities. In fact, fire can even provide more forage for both wildlife and domestic livestock.

On the surface, the Deep Creek drainage, looks – well, like a disaster. But, again, what we see is just a small minute of time, of a process that spans thousands of years. Current technologies, highly trained resource personnel and long-term monitoring, will help us see portions of this long-term event.

*USDA Forest Service, Western Region. 1989. Fire and the Changing Land. (Brochure).

Fire encourages plant diversity.