The Wildfire Reader

Introduction

Part I. Wildfire Myths

Part II. Wildfire: Perspectives and Visions
Introduction: Humans and Fire
The Fire of Life: Thinking About the Biological Basis for Fire
A Spiral Dance: The Necessity of Fire to Wildness
Fire and Native Peoples: A Natural or Humanized Landscape?
Coyote Wildfire: Evolving Firefighters into Fire Guiders
Incendiary Language: How Words Affect Perception
Hot News: Media Coverage of Wildfire
Don’t Get Hosed: How Political Framing Influences Fire Policy
Lifetimes with Fire: A Place in the Wildland Interface

Part III. Fire Ecology: Stories and Studies
Introduction: Fire-Adapted Landscapes
The Yellowstone Fires of 1988: A Living Wilderness
Fire Ecology of the Sierra Nevada: Forests Born to Burn
Wildfire Management on a Human-Dominated Landscape: California Chaparral Wildfires
Fire in the Klamath-Siskiyou Ecoregion: Protecting and Restoring the Fire Mosaic
Fire in the Southwest: A Historical Context
Fire in the East: Welcoming Back a Native Son

Part IV. (Un)Healthy Forest Policy: Suppression, Salvage, and Scurrilous Solutions
Introduction: Vested Interests as Purveyors of Forest Health
Logging and Wildfire: Ecological Differences and the Need to Preserve Large Fires
After the Smoke Clears: Ecological Impacts of Salvage Logging
Conventional Salvage Logging: The Loss of Ecological Reason and Economic Restraint
Pyro Cows: The Role of Livestock Grazing in Worsening Fire Severity

Part V. The New Gravy Train: The Emergence of the Fire-Military-Industrial Complex
Introduction: The Flawed Economics of Fire Suppression
Avoiding a New “Conspiracy of Optimism”: The Economics of 224 Forest Fuel Reduction Strategies
Money to Burn: Wildfire and the Budget
The War on Wildfire: Firefighting and the Militarization of Forest Fire Management

Part VI. Eliminating the Smokescreen: Toward an Intelligent Fire Policy
Introduction: Learning to Live with Fire-Dependent Ecosystems
Keep the Greenfire Burning: Deep Ecology
Sprawling Into Disaster: The Growing Impact of Rural Residential Development on Wildland Fire Management in the Greater Yellowstone Area
Burning Down the House: The Role of Disaster Aid in Subsidizing Catastrophe
The Community Protection Zone: Defending Homes and Communities from the Threat of Forest Fire

Part VII. Time To Retire Smokey Bear

Afterword
The Ultimate Firefight: Changing Hearts and Minds
Smokey the Bear Sutra
A Glossary of Euphemisms and Spin
A Glossary of Wildland Fire Terms
Contributors
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index