| UNMANAGED WILDLAND FIRES |
Unmanaged wildland fires have occurred regularly in the eastern US since European settlement. Whether for farming, creating grazing areas or homesites, settlers burned land as a management tool to help them to survive. It is probable that these fires often got away and burned uncontrollably. In addition to fires being human caused, fires were and are often caused by nature - namely lightning. These fires and out of control human caused fires often burned large expanses of the forests over mountains and through valleys until nature (the weather) or some natural fuel break (a river, lake or ridge) intervened. Although there were localized burning regulations, large scale fire suppression efforts for "unmanaged wildland fires" did not begin until the early 20th century when the USDA Forest Service and State Forestry agencies were organized. At the time, because there were such large numbers of unmanaged wildland fires all across the nation, the main focus was for the suppression of all fires to protect the timber resources. In 1941, more than 30,000,000 acres burned as a result of 208,000 wildfires in the United States. The USDA Forest Service statistics showed that nine out of ten of these fires were caused by humans and determined that they could be prevented. Unwanted, uncontrolled wildfires are not only harmful to the landscape but they can also be costly in terms of damage to our natural resources and the expense to control and suppress the fires. The purpose of the development of the fire prevention and Smokey Bear programs was to reduce the number of unwanted human caused fires. With these efforts, the USDA Forest Service and State Forestry agencies were able to significantly reduce the number of fires and to protect our nation during a significantly vulnerable time (World War II.) Even with our prevention and suppression efforts ongoing, wildland fires continue to occur in the Eastern United States. The causes of these unmanaged wildland fires vary from state to state but the human factors are present in each and most often include children, debris burning and arson. Lightning is a factor in some unmanaged wildland fires but is usually not the leading cause of fires in the eastern United States. We have most recently witnessed catastrophic wildland fires in Southern California. Here is a list of the most significant fires in the United States.
The 1988 fire season, including the fires at Yellowstone National Park, are considered to be a turning point in fire management policy. The review of these fires, how and why they occurred and the management of those fires, led to the development of new federal policy regarding the management of wildland fires. The current policy regarding how federal, state, and local agencies will manage wildland fire includes:
In general, unwanted fires started by humans and nature usually occur when the conditions are good for the fire to spread rapidly and cause great damage or threat to life and property. Consequently, firefighters will actively work to control and suppress these fires. They will use their knowledge of the fire triangle and its behavior, to control the fire. The main method firefighters employ is to eliminate the fuel a fire needs to burn by digging a fire line around the fire either by hand or with mechanical equipment. Firefighters will also dig hotspots out and smother the embers with fresh soil cutting off the oxygen supply. Water is used sparingly as it is often in short supply in wildland fire situations. Water sources can be very far away and inaccessible. |
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| Unmanaged Fire Teaching Activity |
| For a printable copy of this activity use this link >  |
Looking at the Issue: Managing Natural Events - Unmanaged Fires (Activity adapted from "Investigating your environment - Investigating an Environmental Issue", USDA Forest Service publication) Purpose: The students will discover the basics of an issue by learning how to explore sources of information from which to begin an issue analysis. Objective: As a result of participation in this investigative process, the student will be able to:
Activity A - Describing the Issue Discuss with the class the issue of unmanaged wildland fires in the United States. Discussion should be directed to determine (by listing) what they know and how they feel about this issue. Using the background material, the students should develop written responses to the questions on Activity Sheet A. Activity B - Collect and Record Information In this research phase, the students should work in small groups to utilize references sources to complete Activity Sheet B. With the basic problem stated, the students will use Activity B to agree on a direction to take to understand the problem. Activity C - Exploring Interrelationships and Identifying Conflict The students will identify interrelationships within the issue of "managing unmanaged fire" and look at some potential or existing conflicts within this issue. Students are to complete Activity Sheet C. This exercise may reveal that more information on specific topics is needed to continue. Activity D - Analyzing Impacts The purpose of this final activity is put the issue of unmanaged fire in its broadest context and look at the potential impacts this issue could have for our natural resources. Students are to complete the chart on Activity Sheet D and prepare group presentations summarizing their investigation. Activity A: Describing the Issue Title of Issue: Description of Issue: What is happening? Where is it happening? (Past history and events, etc.) Who is affected? How are they affected? What are the impacts of the issue? (Economically, aesthetically, socially, politically, etc.) What are the possible courses of action about the issue? What agencies and/or organizations are involved that have major responsibilities in this issue? Activity B. Collect and Record Information List some factors that might contribute to the issue. Describe what you want to find out about this issue or its factors. Describe the kind of information that needs to be collected. Information Sources about this activity (people, agencies, websites, reports, etc.) 1. 2. 3. Based on the information we have read and the things we've discussed, our group would like to find our more about: 1. 2. 3. Questions we will ask to find out these things are: 1. 2. 3. In order to find out more about these things, we will specifically look for information about: 1. 2. 3. Activity C: Interpreting the Information Collected - page 1
Activity C: Interpreting the Information Collected - page 2 Describe what the collected data tells you about the issue. List comparisons, contrasts, or cause-and-effect relationships that can be inferred from the collected data. What big ideas are suggested by the interpretation of this data? What implications do these big ideas have to environmental management? Extending the investigation List parts of the investigation that can be explored more fully by more data collection. Describe data that still needs to be collected. Describe what might be significant about collecting the additional information. Activity D: Analyzing the Impact Based on the data you have collected, describe the general interest and impact, as you see it, that this issue can have in the following areas.
From the chart above, your observations and the analyzing of information about the issue, construct a brief statement which would summarize the general impact of this issue on our natural resources. |
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