Fire Science -- U.S. History Thesis

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 2042 words ( 7 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 5

Page 1 of 7

Many foresters supported Pinchot's policies along with pulp, timber and paper companies, and in fact the U.S. Forest Service (commanded by Chief Forester Henry Graves) adopted "fire control" as the "principle duty of the agency" (Fowler). However there was plenty of opposition to Pinchot's strategy of suppressing fires, both from state and federal agencies that supported "light burning" and "Indian fires" policies. By 1910, Fowler writes in the Forest Encyclopedia, the Forest Service began experimenting with "prescribed fires" but concluded that prescribed fires were more "destructive' than useful.

In 1924 Congress passed the Clark-McNary Act that allocated money to states to develop their own fire-fighting capabilities. The Smokey Bear fire-fighting campaign was launched in 1944, "teaching two to three generations of Americans that all fires are harmful to forests" (Fowler, FE). In fact, prescribed burning was "banned on many public lands in the South" for over 50 years. It wasn't until the 1960s that the Forest Service began "moving into fuel management" (Gorte, 1995). One technique in fire science that has been employed recently (besides prescribed burning) has been "salvage timber operations" (removing "woody materials from the forest"). Another strategy, launched by the Forest Service in the 1970s, is a "let burn" policy; still another is called "least-cost-plus-loss" which promotes the idea that "fire control is only justified by the damage prevented" (Gorte, 1995).

Stuck Writing Your "Fire Science -- U.S. History" Thesis?

View All Our Example Fire Science -- U.S. History Thesis

Have A Custom Example Essay Written



In other words, if a wildfire rages across the western wilderness, but does no damage to homes or other structures, little or no fire control is "economically justified" (Gorte). Meantime, fuel management can be justified "only when the treatment costs are less than the benefits," Gorte writes in the CRS Report for Congress ("Forest Fires and Forest Health"). Those who promote forest health activities "often assert" that reduced fuel loadings can reduce the costs of fire control and reduce damages, Gorte writes. "This assertion is logical," he continues, and is supported by "some anecdotal evidence." However, there isn't much research to document the "widespread fire control savings from fuel t5reatment," Gorte explains.

The federal government is responsible for fire protection on federal lands but the responsibility for protecting homes and other structures on, "private lands in and around federal lands is less clear," Gorte continues. But what is clear, from the literature available, is the Native Americans pretty much had it right when it comes to fire science, and the Europeans who settled in North America had it wrong for many years -- up until just recently.

Works.....

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Fire Science -- U S History" (2009, April 30) Retrieved July 3, 2025, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/fire-science-us-history-22336

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Fire Science -- U S History" 30 April 2009. Web.3 July. 2025. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/fire-science-us-history-22336>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Fire Science -- U S History", 30 April 2009, Accessed.3 July. 2025,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/fire-science-us-history-22336
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example