Full Citation: DellaSala, Dominick A., and Evan J. Frost. 2001. "An Ecologically Based Strategy for Fire and Fuels Management in National Forest Roadless Areas." World Wildlife Fund

Abstract: During the challenging 2000 fire season, the local and national headlines trumpeted daily news about the “worst fires in recent memory.” The media showered us with the latest statistics on wildland fires in the West: “More than 6 million acres charred in 13 Western States...more than 25,000 firefighters deployed...over 80 blazes raging out of control...hundreds of homes consumed.”

Amid the media frenzy, one Presidential candidate—George W. Bush—sought to improve his position in the public opinion polls by stating that greatly reduced logging levels on national forests during the previous decade had “made the forests more dangerous to fire.” The implication was that the USDA Forest Service’s proposed policy for protecting roadless areas was akin to putting a lit match into a tinderbox.

Others called for massive logging, roadbuilding, and a rash of prescribed fires as a quick fix for the previous 50-100 years of fire suppression. While conservationists advocated for roadless area protection on the grounds that roadless areas are the last remnants of formerly large and intact forests, critics asserted that fiery conflagrations would inevitably occur if the same forest remnants were not intensively managed. The rest of us pondered: Where is the science in all this? Is every acre doomed to “catastrophic” fire if not intensively managed? Is it appropriate to treat all forests the same, regardless of whether or not they contain existing road systems?

After all the hyperbole – a combination of media hype, electoral politics, and misinformation spread to promote special interests – it’s time to take a sober look at the questions raised by the 2000 fire season. Specifically, what evidence exists on the relationship between wildland fire and timber management in roaded vs. roadless areas? What effects might silvicultural treatments and prescribed fire have on ecosystems in roadless areas? Is there an ecologically based strategy for identifying, on a case-by-case basis, where active management might be appropriate for maintaining fire-dependent forest ecosystems?