From prehistory to the present-day conservation movement, Pyne explores the efforts of successive American cultures to master wildfire and to use it to shape the landscape.

'Generic Risk Assessment 3.4 - Fighting Fires in Open Rural Areas' is part of a series of Generic Risk Assessments (GRAs) that is the product of a ten year consultation period. The GRAs have been designed to safeguard Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) personnel and members of the public. This assessment examines the hazards, risks and control measures relating to Fire and Rescue Service personnel, the personnel of other agencies and members of the public when fighting fires in open rural locations including grass, moorland, crop and forest fires.There are significant hazards and risks which face Fire and Rescue Service personnel at rural area fires. Chapters within this GRA include: environmental conditions; terrain; non-service equipment, personnel; insects and animals; movement of vehicles; military ranges and hunting/shooting areas; open water; pylons/overhead power lines; manual handling and heavy physical work; stacked materials. Depending on the nature and scale of the operational incident a variety of significant hazards may be present. Therefore contents of other specific Generic Risk Assessments may also need to be considered.

In the Spring of 2004, the U S Fire Administration (USFA) partnered with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in a cooperative agreement project entitled Mitigating the Rural Fire Problem. The purpose of the project was to examine what can be done to reduce the high death rate from fires in rural U S communities