Fire Management

Other than land clearing for urban development (Wear and others 1998), no disturbance is more common in southern forests than fire. The pervasive role of fire predates human activity in the South (Komarek 1964, 1974), and humans magnified that role. Most fires are now human-caused in all Southern States, with arson playing a variable role, depending upon the State and region within a State.

Despite their important role in causing ignitions, humans have also altered fire dynamics by suppressing wildfires. The adverse effects of 70 years of fire suppression are evident in many ecosystems in the South. Fortunately, many of these ecosystems can be restored with the judicious reintroduction of fire. Prescribed fire offers a way to do just that.

Southern resource managers burn an estimated 8 million acres annually of forest, range, and cropland for many objectives but mostly for hazard reduction, wildlife habitat improvement, and range management (Wade and others 2000). An increasing number of acres are burned each year for ecosystem restoration and maintenance.

Repeating patterns of fire behavior on the landscape lead to recognizable fire regimes. Understanding these fire regimes is essential to examining the importance of fire in southern landscapes and integrating fire into forest management. Part of fire management is knowing and applying methods for reducing the effects of the resulting smoke on the health and safety of people in surrounding areas.

• Fire types and regimes
• Prescribed fire
• Smoke management