The case for prescribed fire
As forest research shows, the Rocky Mountain region’s natural history reveals a pattern of fire occurrence extending from time immemorial, meaning before human memory, with drastic curtailment in the early 1900s when wildfires began to be suppressed.
The landscapes we see today are very different than pre-1900 as a result of fire suppression. They are much more susceptible to large severe wildfires. Lightning ignites thousands of wildfires each year. Indigenous people used fire to increase forage for themselves and wildlife. Early European settlers viewed fire as destructive but had limited ability to stop it. The technological advancement following two world wars, combined with heightened government support, allowed firefighters to extinguish wildfires with the goals of preventing damage to and loss of private property, timber, and life.
However, as wildfires were suppressed, forest encroachment and increased tree density occurred across the Rocky Mountain region. As a result of thicker, denser forests, trees became less vigorous and more susceptible to insect infestation, creating more fuel for wildfire when it inevitably occurs.
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