During this course we will explore the origins of
wildland fire management. We will follow the origins of fire usage from
Asia and Africa, through Europe, and into the Americas. We will
understand why certain policies were developed and what their
consequences where. Importantly, we will understand why wildland fire
management in the United States is doing what it is today.
We will chat about the physical phenomena of
fire, look at the ecological role of fire across ecosystems, discuss how society has managed wildland
fire from both a historical and technical points of view. Along the
way we will discuss and explore a diversity of topics ranging from
economics, and federal policy to the world-wide view of fire.
One thing to keep in mind about this course, and in
most cases during your academic career, you will not learn how to direct
an air drop, how to lead a hotshot crew or become an expert on how to
lay out a fire line. What you will learn is why fire management is the
way it is today. The study of fire is truly a life long learning
process that I hope will be fueled by and begin with the topics in this
course.
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Picture:
Experimental burn as part of University of Idaho Wildland Fire Program
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