Even before the myth of Prometheus, fire played a crucial ecological role around the world. Numerous plant communities depend on fire to generate species diversity in both time and space. Without fire such ecosystems would become sterile monocultures. Recent efforts to prohibit fire in fire dependent communities have contributed to more intense and more damaging fires. For these reasons, foresters, ecologists, land managers, geographers, and environmental scientists are interested in the behavior and ecological effects of fires. This book will be the first to focus on the chemistry and physics of fire as it relates to the ways in which fire behaves and the impacts it has on ecosystem function. Leading international contributors have been recruited by the editors to prepare a didactic text/reference that will appeal to both advanced students and practicing professionals.

A story of hope and friendship, in which resilience trumps tragedy in the wake of a forest fire. After moving from the city, one boy discovers his new home in the woods isn't so bad—there is friendship in the midst of the forest. But when he spots a fire on the horizon that soon engulfs everything he's come to know—the bugs, the plants, the fox who keeps him company—he is forced to flee. When his newfound comfort goes up in smoke, how can he ever feel at home again? In a forest fire, so much can change in an instant. But both fox and boy learn that there are some things fire cannot burn. With time, the forest will regrow, the animals will return to their home, and so will the boy and his mom. As we all search for tools for understanding the destruction of forest fires, this touching story shows that hope, friendship, and resilience shine the brightest. TIMELY: As fires rage over a wider swath of the United States and internationally, and as fire season lengthens year after year, and sets new records year after year, these are themes communities are engaging with daily during fire season. WRITTEN BY A FIREFIGHTER: The author-illustrator was a volunteer firefighter, giving him a unique perspective on the topic of forest fires. EMOTIONALLY RESONANT: This moving story ends with rebuilding—both for humans and for nature—and with a truly uplifting message of resilience. COMMUNITY-BUILDING: A wonderful resource for families and communities experiencing the aftermath of a fire or other natural disasters, as well as anyone looking to empathize with, and better understand, those communities in need. CLASSROOM RESOURCE: Not only is this the perfect resource for talking about topics like the environment, natural disasters, forest management, and emergency preparedness, this book will also spark important conversations about coping with personal and community tragedies. The author-illustrator reflects on his own experiences with forest fires in the autho's note, and backmatter provides additional context. Perfect for: Parents, Educators, Nature lovers

This edited volume presents original scientific research and knowledge synthesis covering the past, present, and potential future fire ecology of major US forest types, with implications for forest management in a changing climate. The editors and authors highlight broad patterns among ecoregions and forest types, as well as detailed information for individual ecoregions, for fire frequencies and severities, fire effects on tree mortality and regeneration, and levels of fire-dependency by plant and animal communities. The foreword addresses emerging ecological and fire management challenges for forests, in relation to sustainable development goals as highlighted in recent government reports. An introductory chapter highlights patterns of variation in frequencies, severities, scales, and spatial patterns of fire across ecoregions and among forested ecosystems across the US in relation to climate, fuels, topography and soils, ignition sources (lightning or anthropogenic), and vegetation. Separate chapters by respected experts delve into the fire ecology of major forest types within US ecoregions, with a focus on the level of plant and animal fire-dependency, and the role of fire in maintaining forest composition and structure. The regional chapters also include discussion of historic natural (lightning-ignited) and anthropogenic (Native American; settlers) fire regimes, current fire regimes as influenced by recent decades of fire suppression and land use history, and fire management in relation to ecosystem integrity and restoration, wildfire threat, and climate change. The summary chapter combines the major points of each chapter, in a synthesis of US-wide fire ecology and forest management into the future. This book provides current, organized, readily accessible information for the conservation community, land managers, scientists, students and educators, and others interested in how fire behavior and effects on structure and composition differ among ecoregions and forest types, and what that means for forest management today and in the future.

From killer fires to ecosystem rehabilitation, an exhaustive survey exploring the ecological, social, and economic consequences of managing fires in U.S. wildland areas. Fire management involves protecting natural resources from fire but also using controlled burning for land management purposes. Who are the stewards of land management and the researchers who devote their entire careers studying fire? How are ecosystems restored after major fires? What are the economic ramifications and what assessment tools are available? Forest Fires: A Reference Handbook explores the historical, ecological, economic, and social dimensions of wildland combustion and their impacts in North America. Explaining how legislation and public perception have been shaped by historic fires and fire seasons, particular emphasis is placed on the summer of 2000 as a way of understanding and managing future fires.

From a fire policy of prevention at all costs to today's restored burning, Between Two Fires is America's history channeled through the story of wildland fire management. Stephen J. Pyne tells of a fire revolution that began in the 1960s as a reaction to simple suppression and single-agency hegemony, and then matured into more enlightened programs of fire management. It describes the counterrevolution of the 1980s that stalled the movement, the revival of reform after 1994, and the fire scene that has evolved since then. Pyne is uniquely qualified to tell America’s fire story. The author of more than a score of books, he has told fire’s history in the United States, Australia, Canada, Europe, and the Earth overall. In his earlier life, he spent fifteen seasons with the North Rim Longshots at Grand Canyon National Park. In Between Two Fires, Pyne recounts how, after the Great Fires of 1910, a policy of fire suppression spread from America’s founding corps of foresters into a national policy that manifested itself as a costly all-out war on fire. After fifty years of attempted fire suppression, a revolution in thinking led to a more pluralistic strategy for fire’s restoration. The revolution succeeded in displacing suppression as a sole strategy, but it has failed to fully integrate fire and land management and has fallen short of its goals. Today, the nation’s backcountry and increasingly its exurban fringe are threatened by larger and more damaging burns, fire agencies are scrambling for funds, firefighters continue to die, and the country seems unable to come to grips with the fundamentals behind a rising tide of megafires. Pyne has once again constructed a history of record that will shape our next century of fire management. Between Two Fires is a story of ideas, institutions, and fires. It’s America’s story told through the nation’s flames.