Vive l'usage du feu!
This outstanding video features the pioneers of the movement to see that health of the land be treated at least on par with other protection values on Federal lands. The “10:00 AM Policy” of complete fire exclusion has been shown to be an abject failure with lengthening seasons, spiraling costs, increased firefighter exposure to on-the-job risk and stress.
Many complain of being a Forestry or Range Technician and wish to become what is modeled as economically preferable (only in California), that is to say a “professional firefighter,” as found in city and state government wildland fire crews that simply protect private property. But it’s not enough to have technical expertise only as it relates to your mode of conveyance to the fire - an engine, a helicopter, a crew buggy, saws and assorted hand tools. To work for a Federal or tribal land management agency is to be a land steward. That requires a land use ethic, which requires enough education to appreciate the science of fire ecology, knowing the fire history and fire regimes in which you work, and understanding fire policy. All of that has solid operational application and leads to asking questions like,
“Can we let this just burn out to the rocks or recent nearby burned area, rather than going direct?”
“Can we move to a point protection strategy, rather than going direct, and reduce firefighter exposure to risk?”
“What are we going to do when the GACC won’t shake loose with the hand crews you ordered because you have no values at risk on a remote fire?”
“Rather than simply transferring risk to the future, can we let this fire burn a bit more, creating a future fuel break and benefiting habitat, forest resilience, etc?”
All too many wildland firefighters and managers today ascribe to the false belief that logging or “active forest management” is the only solution to the increasing fire problem. That has been debunked scientifically, for the most part, with carbon emissions of logging far exceeding that of preserving an intact stand of old growth with periodic fires. It is a cynical use of the public’s fear of fire to promote destructive activities, like salvage logging. More importantly, there will be no logging or “active management” in wilderness and roadless areas. In these places, fire is the only tool available to thin stands, thereby restoring an important natural process.
Speaking of “management,” the speakers in this fine video use the current vernacular for a fire being managed for resource benefit. Back in the day we had prescribed natural fire (PNF) and wildland fire use (WFU). Now, fire is fire, resource and protection objectives can go hand-in-hand simultaneously or apart in time and space on a naturally-occurring wildfire. Wildland fire use was forced by policy fiat into early retirement. Today, all fires are managed, and it is not fire policy wonks who have control of language. Fire use will persist, back by popular demand. It is society that chooses if a word remains in common use, or not. Ask Noam Chomsky. He’ll tell you. He’s a linguist. Humans have been using fire as a tool for the past million years. It is a big part of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, also called by other names including Indigenous Knowledge or Native Science. Ecological fire management seeks to wed the ancient with the modern state-of-the-art risk management tools leading to healthy lands and least-risk to firefighters and the public. Let the big iron and big air shows be reserved for the ever expanding wildland urban interface. Long live fire use!
And, if you want to bone up on a land use ethic, the movie, Greenfire:Aldo Leopold & a Land Ethic for Our Time is now streaming for free here.
