Let the Fire Rage: Finding the Bright Side of Wildfire

            Fire is universally recognized to have great power, and is often associated with the destruction that it causes, both to property and life. And this association is not unfounded: tens of billions of dollars of damage are caused each year (Hall), and in 2008 over four billion dollars was spent on wildfire suppression alone (Gorte). 

            However, fire has an equal, if not greater, capacity to benefit human lives by

·      providing heat to homes

·      managing undesirable plants and pathogens

·      clearing land efficiently for travel

·      reducing fuel loads (such as dead, dry plants that are extremely flammable)

·      maximizing food production (Pyke).

"Prescribed Burning." Environmental Encyclopedia. N.p.: Gale, 2011. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 1 Nov. 2012.

            Paradoxically,  wildfire itself is now one of the dominant forces used to fight fire and to maintain ecosystems ("Prescribed Burning"). Greg Clevenger, a national forest officer, comments that fire "goes in and cleans out a lot of fuel buildup. What people tend to forget is, it will grow back.... Fire is a natural process. It plays a role like the wind and the rain" (Stuart). 

            The purpose of prescribed, or controlled, burning is to clear land of fuel build up, such as flammable debris. These intentional fires are generally small enough to be easily controlled if winds pick up or other conditions vary, and are temperately cool, preserving natural root systems. Frequent, low-intensity fires are beneficial to the land, clearing ground for new life ("Prescribed Burning"). 

            Bryant Olson explains in a New York Times video (starting at 5:11) how his home was likely saved from the brunt of the Wallow fire, a destructive Arizona wildfire that burned a several hundred square miles of land in 2011 ("Science"). Not only will more lives be preserved by making better use of this new technique of preventing uncontrolled wildfires, but wildland animal habitats and precious land will also be better preserved since they are adapted to periodic disturbances from fire ("Prescribed Burning for the Management...").

"Prescribed Burning for the Management of White-tailed Deer." Deer Management. Buck Manager: Deer Hunting and Management, 10 Jan. 2011. Web. 04 Nov. 2012.

            With rising number of wildfires occurring and limited money to spend suppressing wildfire, better wildfire prediction models are also of interest (Alderson). These models would allow firefighters to most effectively concentrate efforts on fighting the most dangerous fires with the most potential to damage fragile ecosystems, human lives, and precious property.

             All in all, it is clear that fire can be a tool to conserve lives of humans and animals alike as well as wildland habitats, and local communities should not resist prescribed burnings because the benefits of this practice far outweigh the risks.

Works Cited

Alderson, David L., Nada Petrovic, and Jean M. Carlson. "Dynamic Resource Allocation in Disaster Response: Tradeoffs in Wildfire Suppression." PLoS ONE 7.4 (2012): 1-9. EBSCOhost. Web. 29 Oct. 2012.

Gorte, Ross W. Federal Funding for Wildfire Control and Management. Rep. no. 7-5700. Congressional Research Service, 5 July 2011. Web. 1 Nov. 2012. 

Hall, John R., Jr. Rep. no. USS13. National Fire Protection Association, Feb. 2011. Web. 3 Nov. 2012.

"Prescribed Burning for the Management of White-tailed Deer." Deer Management. Buck Manager: Deer Hunting and Management, 10 Jan. 2011. Web. 04 Nov. 2012. 

"Prescribed Burning." Environmental Encyclopedia. N.p.: Gale, 2011. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 1 Nov. 2012.

Prescribed Burning. N.d. Photograph. South Dakota. Environmental Encyclopedia. Ed. Mary A. Cunningham, Marci Bortman, and Peter Brimblecombe. 3rd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2010. N. pag. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 30 Oct. 2012.

Pyke, David A., Matthew L. Brooks, and Carla D'Antonio. "Fire as a Restoration Tool: A Decision Framework for Predicting the Control or Enhancement of Plants Using Fire." Restoration Ecology 8.3 (2010): 274-84. EBSCOhost. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. 

"Science: The Forest for the Trees." NYTimes.com Video Collection 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 2 Nov. 2012.

Stuart, John. "Controlled Fires Are Beneficial to Forests." The Environment. Ed. Laura K. Egendorf. Sand Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Fire: Friend or Foe?" Mother Earth News (2003): 51-54. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. Islands, British Columbia, Canada." Canadian Journal of Forest Research (2010): 2104-114. EBSCOhost. Web. 29 Oct. 2012.