Can we restore the fire process? What awaits us if we don't?

R. Gordon Schmidt

Treesearch

Can we restore the fire process? What awaits us if we don't?

Informally Refereed

Authors:

R. Gordon Schmidt

Year:

1996

Type:

General Technical Report

Station:

Rocky Mountain Research Station

Source:

In: Hardy, Colin C.; Arno, Stephen F., eds. The use of fire in forest restoration. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-GTR-341. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. p. 85-86.

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Abstract

This paper's title - "Can we restore the fire process? What awaits us if we don't?" - represents an ecologist's view of the world. I submit that this view is unrealistic. The first clause uses the term "restore" which implies reestablishing the fire process of the past. The second phrase uses the absolute term "don't" which implies that we can. Both of these phrases are too determinant for me. The 1995 International Conference of the Society of Ecological Restoration slogan challenges us to Take a Broader View." If we do that we can see the real challenge.

Parent Publication

The use of fire in forest restoration

Keywords

fire ecology, fire regimes, forest restoration

Citation

Schmidt, R. Gordon. 1996. Can we restore the fire process? What awaits us if we don''t?. In: Hardy, Colin C.; Arno, Stephen F., eds. The use of fire in forest restoration. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-GTR-341. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. p. 85-86.