Fire-management policies and programs

Abstract

For most of this century the goal of fire management in the Sierra was to control fire. The policy was aggressively and successfully ap-plied, substantially reducing annual acres burned. This goal was based on a fire policy that emphasized keeping wildland fires as small and inexpensive as possible. As the role of fire in maintaining Sierran ecosystems has been recognized, fire has been reintroduced through the application of planned prescribed fire and prescribed natural fire. Despite changes in fire-management policy that have allowed ex-panded use of fire, relatively few acres have been managed using fire in the Sierra Nevada. This chapter explores options for expand- ing the role for fire in the Sierra through more liberal application of current fire policy and through changes in existing fire policy. These recommendations are tempered by the knowledge that the number of available fire-fighting resources has been steadily declining since the mid-1970s and that social, economic, and biological factors are making all aspects of fire management more costly and difficult.

Citation

Husari, S.J.; McKelvey, K.S. 1996. Fire-management policies and programs. Pages 1101-1118 in: Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project, Final Report to Congress, Vol. II, Assessments and Scientific Basis for Management Options. Davis, CA: University of California, Centers for Water and Wildland Resources. Report No. 37