Wildfire Suppression Over

Time
How the way we fight forest
fires has changed over the
years

Overview
1800s 1960s
As western settlement in North America moved
west, wildfires became more of an issue
After several devastating fires, policy became
to put out all fires

1960sToday
Leopold Report, 1962
Letting some fires burn, sometimes

1800s-1960s
Forest fires werent a big issue in the
east
Migration west
Yellowstone National Park opens
1872

Suppression, suppression,
suppression
1916: National
Park Service
1924: Aldo Leopold
1934: 10 a.m. rule
1940:
Smokejumpers
1944: Smokey Bear

1960s: Changes

Giant Sequoias in California

Leopold Report
1968: Ecological process
1988: Yellowstone Fire
public perception

Today
Factors:
To let burn or not?
Sprawling housing
WUI (WOO-ee)
Between 1998-2007
80,000 fires suppressed
327 allowed to burn

Conclusion
Fire suppression is a bad ecological
idea
Human factors are making it
unavoidable