Wildfire in the Pacific West: a brief history and implications for the future

Abstract

Wildfire has been for millennia a natural component of our western forested wildlands. Its frequency, severity, and effects have varied depending on the specific environment, the type of fire, and the adaptations of the forest biota to fire. The socio-political environment in which these forests exist has had a much more significant impact on public and private policy towards fire than the physical-biological environment. Although ecological criteria are important in technical planning, they will be overshadowed by socio-political criteria in problem definition and solution for the future.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the symposium on fire and watershed management

Citation

Agee, James K. 1989. Wildfire in the Pacific West: a brief history and implications for the future. In: Berg, Neil H. tech. coord. Proceedings of the Symposium on Fire and Watershed Management: October 26-28, 1988, Sacramento, California. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-109. Berkeley, Calif.: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station: 11-16