The challenge
Large wildfires in the early 1900s destroyed timber and towns and killed people.
The case
In 1935 the US Forest Service, under Chief Ferdinand Silcox, adopted the ‘10 a.m. policy’: every fire was to be controlled by 10 a.m. on the morning after it was reported. The policy drove investment in lookouts, aircraft and smokejumpers, and burned area fell sharply. But in many dry western forests fire had been a regular, natural part of the landscape. Removing it allowed dead wood and dense young trees to build up. A 3,000-year charcoal record published in 2012 found that western US forests now have a ‘fire deficit’ caused by human activity, which helps explain the larger and more intense fires of recent decades. The Forest Service replaced the policy in the 1970s.
Why it didn't work
Putting out every fire solved the short-term problem but built up fuel that made later fires far worse. Fire prevention in fire-adapted landscapes has to manage fuel, not just remove fire.
Sources
- Marlon, J. R. et al. (2012). Long-term perspective on wildfires in the western USA. PNAS.
- Forest History Society. U.S. Forest Service Fire Suppression.
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