    |
 |
NHC Home  TeacherServe Nature Transformed The Use of the Land Essay-Related Links |
|
|
|||||||||||
MAN and FIRE (Overview)
"The Long Burn" (Pyne, 1999)
http://www.wholeearthmag.com/ArticleBin/292.html
A highly readable intro to the history of fire-and-man; by Dr. Stephen Pyne, author of this TeacherServe® essay; originally published in Whole Earth, Winter 1999.
"The Human Flame" (Pyne, 2001)
http://www.public.asu.edu/~spyne/XALAPA.htm
A more extensive overview by Dr. Pyne of the history of fire-and-man.
The History of Fire
http://chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/fall1998/historyfire.html
Brief timeline of fire from 300 million years ago to 1997 (using recent events in Illinois as examples of fire events); from Chicago Wilderness Magazine, Fall 1998.
"The Fire of Creation: The Place of Fire in Nature and Human Culture"
Series episode highlighting Stephen Pyne and the Ponderosa National Forest, from the TV and webcast series Sacred Balance (CBC/October 2002):
| Summary: http://www.sacredbalance.com/web/drilldown.html?sku=78 | |
| Webcast: http://www.sacredbalance.com/web/level2.tpl?var1=8&var2=5 | |
| Project home page: http://www.sacredbalance.com/web/portal/index.php |
U.S. WILDFIRE POLICY
"Fire Wars" (Fire in the American West), NOVA/PBS, 2002
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/fire/
Website accompanying the NOVA documentary on U.S. wildfire policy since the late 1800s (using the 2000 wildfire season in the American West as its focus). Offers interactive teaching modules (including a three-variable Wildfire Simulator and interactive global fire maps), links, transcript, and supplementary articles including "How Plants Use Fire," by Dr. Pyne, a featured expert in the documentary.
"Creating an Ecological Omelette: How We Got Out of an Agrarian Frying Pan into an Exurban Fire" (Pyne, 2001)
http://www4.nationalacademies.org/cger/bond.nsf/
44bf87db309563a0852566f2006d63bb/58f39154aa6bd93085256a14004e00e9/
$FILE/Pyne_revised_abstract.pdf (PDF file)
PDF. Brief paper by Dr. Stephen Pyne reviewing the volatile mix of urban clusters and wildland reserves in fireprone areas of industrial nations, and outlining the discord between proposed U.S. wildland fire policies and global accords. Prepared for the Natural Disasters Roundtable #1: Urban/Wildland Fire, National Academies of Science, January 2001.
Wildfire Protection Efforts (Pyne, 2001)
http://search.npr.org/cf/cmn/cmnpd01fm.cfm?PrgDate=8%2F6%2F2001&PrgID=3
Radio interview with Dr. Stephen Pyne on "Morning Edition," National Public Radio, August 6, 2001 (4 min.), aired after the town of Roswell, New Mexico, created a firebreak to protect it from wildfires.
"Green Skies of Montana" (Pyne, 2000)
http://www.lib.duke.edu/forest/Publications/greensky.pdf (PDF file)
PDF. Article by Dr. Stephen Pyne, especially valuable for his discussion of the moral issues in firefighting, and of the troubled metaphor of firefight-as-battlefield. Adapted from his remarks at showings of the film Up in Flame (Forest History Society) and the 1952 Hollywood film Red Skies of Montana (loosely based on the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire); originally published in Forest History Today, Spring 2000.
"Attention! All Keepers of the Flame" (Pyne, 1999)
http://www.wholeearthmag.com/ArticleBin/290.html
Brief article by Dr. Stephen Pyne challenging the media image of fire as hostile, and reminding us of mankind's responsibilities as "keepers of the planetary flame"; originally published in Whole Earth, Winter 1999.
"Smokechasing" (Pyne, 1999)
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/ideasv62/pyne.htm
Essay by Dr. Stephen Pyne on the unrealized contribution of the humanities to wildfire research and conceptualization; adapted from remarks presented on the 20th anniversary of the National Humanities Center; originally published in the Center's journal Ideas.
"The Political Ecology of Fire: Thoughts Prompted by the Mexican Fires of 1998" (Pyne, 1998)
http://www2.ruf.uni-freiburg.de/fireglobe/iffn/iffn_19/g_edit.htm
Guest editorial by Dr. Stephen Pyne offering advice to Mexican policymakers on the political aftermath of giant fires, citing the U.S. policy of fire suppression after the 1910 Great Fires and the lack of an equivalent narrative for promoting a policy of controlled burning; originally published in International Forest Fire News, September 1998.
"Metaphoric Meltdown; or, Not Back in the Saddle Again" (Pyne, 1997)
http://www.public.asu.edu/~spyne/meltdown.htm
Brief article by Dr. Stephen Pyne challenging the "firefight-as-battlefield" metaphor and its effect on national fire policy; originally published in Wildfire, November 1997.
"Flame and Fortune" (Pyne, 1994)
http://www.public.asu.edu/~spyne/flame.htm
Article by Dr. Stephen Pyne reviewing U.S. firefighting policy since the late 1800s; published shortly after the South Canyon Fire (Storm King Mountain); originally published in The New Republic, August 8, 1994.
U.S. WILDFIRE HISTORY (including specific wildfires noted in this essay)
Historical Wildland Fire Statistics
http://www.nifc.gov/stats/historicalstats.html
Statistics on 33 U.S. wildfires from 1825 to 2000, from the National Interagency Fire Center.
John Wesley Powell, Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States, 1878
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/consrv:@field(DOCID+@lit(vg06T000)):
Primary source recommended by Dr. Pyne; includes map of Utah in which extensive burned areas are attributed to burning by Indians.
Report on the Forests of North America (Exclusive of Mexico), by Charles S. Sargent, Tenth Census, 1884, excerpt on forest fires.
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nattrans/ntuseland/essays/frsargentdis.htm
Excerpt from Sargent's influential report in which he categorizes the causes and impact of forest fires in the U.S.
U.S. Forest Service History
http://www.lib.duke.edu/forest/usfscoll/
Documents, photographs, and a collections database, from the Forest History Society, Duke University.
The Peshtigo Fire of 1871 [Wisconsin]
Rev. Peter Pernin, The Great Peshtigo Fire: An Eyewitness Account, 1874
http://www.library.wisc.edu/etext/WIReader/WER2002-0.html
Full text of account recommended for classroom use by Dr. Pyne; from the Wisconsin Electronic Reader.
The Great Fire of 1871 (Pyne, 1999)
http://www.enn.com/enn-multimedia-archive/1999/09/092899/092799eart_6000.asp
Audioclip including commentary from Dr. Pyne on the fire's political aftermath (2 min;, click "Listen"); from the Environmental News Network.
The Big Blowup of 1910 [Idaho]
Year of the Fires: The Story of the Great Fires of 1910, by Stephen J. Pyne, Viking, 2001, excerpt.
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nattrans/ntuseland/essays/frpyneyear.htm
Overview of the fire and its impact; from the Introduction.
"The Big Burn of 1910"
http://www.missoulian.com/specials/1910/
Six articles with photographs, first-person accounts, and a discussion of the political aftermath of the Big Burn, especially the fire suppression policy of the U.S. Forest Service; from The Missoulian, Missoula, Montana (2000).
"The 1910 Fire"
http://www.idahoforests.org/fires.htm
Another set of six articles, including first-person accounts and a discussion of the fire's political aftermath; from Evergreen Magazine, Winter 1994-1995, on the website of the Idaho Forest Products Commission.
"The Source" (Pyne, 2001)
http://www.lib.duke.edu/forest/lecture2001.html
Presentation by Dr. Stephen Pyne on the Great Fires of 1910 and their political aftermath, delivered at a joint meeting of the American Society for Environmental History and the Forest History Society, March/April 2001.
The Mann Gulch Fire of 1949 [Montana]
Mann Gulch Fire: A Race That Couldn't Be Won
http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/int_gtr299/
The U.S. Forest Service technical report on the fire, by research scientist Richard C. Rothermel, 1993.
Young Men and Fire: A True Story of the Mann Gulch Fire, by Norman Maclean, University of Chicago Press, 1992, excerpt.
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nattrans/ntuseland/essays/frmaclean.htm
Excerpt on the human dynamics of fighting wildfires and the lessons learned from the Mann Gulch firefighter deaths.
"The Thirteenth Fire"
http://www.lib.duke.edu/forest/Publications/13thfire.html
Review of the Mann Gulch Fire, the thirteenth of the 57 fires in the Helena National Forest in 1949; by Dave Turner, in Forest History Today, Spring 1999.
Mann Gulch: A Virtual Tour
http://mgulch.freeyellow.com/
Eleven-step "field trip" through the area of the fire, with historical and current photos; by Rod Benson, Helena [Montana] High School science teacher.
Yellowstone Fires of 1988
Yellowstone in the Afterglow: Lessons from the Fires
http://www.nps.gov/yell/publications/pdfs/fire/htmls/contents.htm
Well-presented online book explaining the fires and its lessons, with photographs, maps, charts, and references; by Mary Ann Franke, Yellowstone National Park, 2000.
Introduction: excellent primer on fire history & behavior, and human-fire interaction.
Ch. 1: The Role of Fire in Yellowstone
Ch. 2: The Summer of 1988
Ch. 3: The Human Aftermath
Ch. 4: Changes in the Landscape
Ch. 5: Wildlife
Ch. 6: Watershed and Stream Dynamics
The 1988 Forest Fires of Yellowstone National Park
http://www.x98ruhf.net/yellowstone/fire.htm
Includes a helpful intro to wildfire ecology; by Robert Ruhf, Ph.D. student in the Institute of Science Education, Western Michigan University.
"Shaped by Fire"
http://www.pbs.org/edens/yellowstone/shaped.html
An overview of the 1988 Yellowstone fires, on the PBS website accompanying the documentary "Yellowstone: America's Sacred Wilderness" (2000).
The Yellowstone Fires (audio clips)
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/radiox/frame.html?yellowstone/
National Geographic "Radio Expedition" on Yellowstone ten years after the fires, including a full transcript; from National Public Radio, 1988.
"Yellowstone burns yield clues to fire behavior"
http://www.enn.com/enn-news-archive/2000/10/10022000/yellowstone_32094.asp
On the environmental aftermath of the Yellowstone fires; by Dan Whipple, Environmental News Network, Oct. 2, 2000.
A Hot Shot Photo Journal
http://www.sover.net/~kenandeb/fire/hotshot.html
Annotated photos, most likely of the 1988 Yellowstone fires, from a U.S. Forest Service fire crew member.
South Canyon Fire, Storm King Mountain, Colorado, 1994
Interagency Accident Investigation Team Report, 1994
http://www.fs.fed.us/land/scanyon.html
Agencies involved: U.S. Bureau of Land Management; National Park Service; Office of Hazard and Fire Programs Coordination, U.S. Department of the Interior; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. Forest Service; National Interagency Fire Center; National Weather Service.
Executive Summary of Interagency Report (above)
National Interagency Fire Center: http://www.nifc.gov/scanyon/execsumm.html
Bureau of Land Management: http://www.co.blm.gov/gsra/southcanyon.htm
U.S. Forest Service Research Paper, 1998
http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/SouthCanyon/index.html
Entitled "Fire Behavior Associated with the 1994 South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mountain, Colorado."
Outlet Fire, Grand Canyon National Park, 2000
Outlet Fire, May 2000
http://www.nps.gov/grca/fire/outlet/
Press releases, photos, maps, satellite videos, investigative report, and more; from Grand Canyon National Park.
National Park Service Investigative Report, 2000
http://www.nps.gov/grca/fire/report/ or http://www.nps.gov/grca/fire/report/index.htm
Entitled "Outlet Prescribed Fire Project Grand Canyon National Park Investigative Report."
Cerro Grande Fire, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico, 2000
Cerro Grande Fire
http://www.nps.gov/cerrogrande/
Presents the 2000 Cerro Grande Prescribed Fire Investigation Report, plus documents on fire management policy; from the National Park Service, Bandelier National Monument.
Lessons Learned from the Cerro Grande (Los Alamos) Fire
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/rc00257t.pdf (PDF file)
PDF. Statement of Barry T. Hill of the U.S. General Accounting Office; originally prepared for a hearing before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate, July 20, 2000.
FireCall: A Wildland Firefighter Speaks Out
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/firecall/
Four-minute video of a 52-year-old wildland firefighter musing on the rewards and hazards of his work; from National Geographic.
Wildfire Season Summaries
http://www.nifc.gov/stats/
For the years 1998 to the last complete wildfire season, in addition to other statistics on wildland and prescribed fire; from the National Interagency Fire Center.
Current Wildfire Season, from WildfireCentral.org
http://www.wildfirecentral.org/
In addition to government agencies that provide current fire news (below), this site from the Wilderness Society provides daily updates as well as Wilderness Society publications, testimony, and links. The visitor may submit questions to five wildfire specialists through the link titled "The Experts."
WILDFIRE ECOLOGY
"Wildfire Ecology in the Western United States"
http://www.cyberwest.com/cw17/fire1.html
Non-technical article from the U.S. Geological Survey reviewing the interrelationship of fire and western landscapes: forest, shrublands, and desert; originally published in Cyberwest Magazine, Sept. 17, 1999.
Glossary of Wildland Fire Terms
http://www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/glossary.html
240 terms with brief definitions, from the National Interagency Fire Center.
Wildfires
http://www.enn.com/indepth/fire/index.asp
Educational quizzes on wildfire (including fire ecology) and recent fire news; from the Environmental News Network.
"How Plants Use Fire (and Are Used by It)" (Pyne, 2002)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/fire/plants.html
Article by Dr. Stephen Pyne on the varied modes of plant and ecosystem adaptation to fire; on the site "Fire Wars," NOVA/PBS, 2002.
Fire and the Land Use History of the Colorado Plateau
http://www.cpluhna.nau.edu/Change/reintroduction_of_fire.htm
Fire-related sections in the vast project "Canyons, Cultures, and Environmental Change: An Introduction to Land Use History of the Colorado Plateau," from Northern Arizona University and the U.S. Geological Survey. Fire-related sections include:
| Biota: | Click "Wildfire History and Ecology," "Ponderosa Fire Ecology," and other fire topics in the left frame. http://www.cpluhna.nau.edu/Biota/biota.htm | ||
| Tools: | Click "Fire Scars" in the left frame. http://www.cpluhna.nau.edu/Tools/tools.htm | ||
| Change: | Click "Reintroduction of Fire to Forest Ecosystems" and "Native Use of Fire" in the left frame. http://www.cpluhna.nau.edu/Change/change.htm | ||
| Research: | Click "Changes in Southwest Forests" and "Fire—Southern Oscillation Relations in the Southwestern United States" in the left frame. http://www.cpluhna.nau.edu/Research/research.htm | ||
| Home: | http://cpluhna.nau.edu/index.htm |
Biomass Burning
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/BiomassBurning/biomass_burning.html
Valuable primer from NASA summarizing its research on biomass burning and wildfires.
Global Fire Monitoring
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/GlobalFire/
Another primer from NASA on global fire, including NASA projects, case studies, and data sets from which one can build animations of wildfires.
"The World on Fire"
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/fire/world.html#nort
Overview of global fire issues summarized for the layman; on NOVA/PBS site "Fire Wars."
"The Global Impact of Biomass Burning"
http://asd-www.larc.nasa.gov/biomass_burn/globe_impact.html
Technical yet accessible article—to quote: "The contribution of boreal forest fires . . . to global emissions from biomass burning is not as well understood as are emissions from tropical forests"; in Environmental Science and Technology (NASA), March 1995.
Wildfires in Australia, 2003
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,5859612%255E7583,00.html
Essay by Prof. Pyne on Australian wildfire policy, comparing it to that in the U.S. Written as an op-ed piece in the daily newspaper The Australian after the disastrous Canberra fires ("Range of remedies in fire's lucky country," 20 January 2003).
FROSTFIRE: Landscape-scale Fire Experiment
http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/fera/research/targeted/frostfire/index.shtml
Extensive site on the FROSTFIRE project, a prescribed research burn and global change experiment in the Alaskan forest in July 1999, designed "to build a full picture of the carbon, water, and energy pools and fluxes in the boreal forest before, during, and after the fire"; includes research reports, a photo gallery, and updated news; from the U.S. Forest Service.
WILDFIRE AGENCIES: U.S. , Canada, International (imaging sites listed separately, below)
National Interagency Fire Agency (NIFC)
http://www.nifc.gov
First place to go for current wildfire information in the U.S. (needs a site map to reveal its hidden resources.)
National Fire Plan: Managing the Impact of Wildfires on the Communities and the Environment
http://www.fireplan.gov
Organized after the 2000 wildfire season to coordinate federal and state management of wildland fire and its impacts; a joint effort of the U.S. Forest Service, Department of the Interior, and the National Association of State Foresters.
FIREWISE: The National Wildland/Urban Interface Fire Program
http://www.firewise.org/
Information for people who live or vacation in fire-prone areas of North America; sponsored by six government agencies and two independent organizations.
NPS Fire and Aviation Management (National Park Service)
http://www.nps.gov/applications/fire/
Includes a "Fire Info Zone," firefighting success stories, and sections on wildland fire, structural fire, and fire aviation.
Office of Fire & Aviation (U.S. Bureau of Land Management)
http://www.fire.blm.gov/
Includes current wildfire news, photo gallery, FAQs page, fact sheets, links, and more.
Fire and Aviation Management (U.S. Forest Service)
http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/fire_new/
Includes current wildfire news, weather and situation reports, fire prevention and education resources, links, and more.
Fire Management (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
http://fire.r9.fws.gov/
Includes a daily situation report, wildland and prescribed fire statistics (from 1995), weather and safety information, a links list entitled "Wildfire, the Endangered Species Act, and Human Safety."
Wildland Fire Research (U.S. Geological Survey)
http://www.usgs.gov/themes/Wildfire/fire.html
Brief summaries of USGS wildland fire research, including fire management support, postfire effects, and fire in the landscape (history, ecology, and regional behavior).
Fire Weather Information Center (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency [NOAA])
http://www.noaa.gov/fireweather/
Compilation of current fire weather (and drought situation) reports from NOAA and other government agencies.
Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC)
http://www.ciffc.ca/cif.shtml
Current fire information for Canada in addition to research and publication information, plus links to other fire agencies.
Fire Research Network: Canadian Forest Service
http://nofc.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/fire/
Research abstracts, publications, links, and more.
Fire Globe: Global Fire Monitoring Center
http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/
Division of the U. N. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR)
Forest Fires: United Nations System-Wide Earthwatch
http://earthwatch.unep.net/forests/forestfires.php
Brief summary of global forest fires and their environmental effects (not updated since 1999).
WILDFIRE IMAGING (photographs, satellite and space shuttle images, video, fire maps, interactive maps, JAVA animations, etc.)
Video Clips, 2000 wildfire season
http://greenforests.com/video.html
Six segments, available in large format (most of the Cerro Grande Fire), useful for illustrating basic concepts of fire behavior and human-fire interaction; from the Intermountain Forest Association.
Interactive Fire Maps (National Fire Plan)
http://www.fireplan.gov/fire_maps.cfm
Scroll down to the 50-state map to create multi-level, multi-factor fire maps for each state.
Interactive Fire Maps (U. S. Geological Survey)
http://geomac.usgs.gov/
Click "Wildland Fire Maps" to access multi-level, multi-factor fire maps for current U.S. fires (expect heavy traffic during wildfire season).
Global Fire Animations (NASA)
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/fires.avhrr.html
Select a time period to view an animation of world wildfires in that period (you can also compare two time periods or compare fire events with other variables).
Wildfire Visualization Project (NASA)
http://www.acl.lanl.gov/viz/pr-wildfire.html
Wildfire simulations, movies, images, and more from the Advanced Computing Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Wildfires: Satellite Image JAVA Animations (NASA, NOAA, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison).
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/misc/
From this page, scroll to the 25+ animations of recent wildfires in the Western Hemisphere; from the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies.
Remote Sensing Application Center (NASA/U.S. Forest Service)
http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/rsac/fire_maps.html
Maps of active fires, satellite images, current detection imaging, and more (under construction as of June 2002).
Satellite Images of Wildfires (U.S. Forest Service)
http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/rsgis_fire/
Highly detailed satellite images of U.S. wildfires, organized by month and day from the recent wildfire seasons.
Satellite Imagery: World Fire Events (NOAA Operational Significant Event Imagery)
http://www.osei.noaa.gov/Events/Fires/
Images (and some animations) arranged by country and region.
Photos of Fire from Space (NASA Earth Observatory)
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?topic=fire
Latest fire events as photographed from space.
Photos/Animations: Views of Wildfires from Space (NASA Earth Observatory)
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaResources/Wildfires/
Summary of NASA's imaging capabilities and research, using images from August 2001.
Photos of Earth from Space, including wildfires (NASA: Johnson Space Center Digital Image Collection)
http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/atmo.html
Choose "Fire" in the Available Views menu for satellite images of global wildfires (recommend clicking "Thumbnail and Text" instead of "Graphically Intense").
Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth (NASA)
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/
Search page for access to all NASA images of earth from space since 1961. One can use the simple map-click method, but it is worth learning the multi-variable technical search process.
Wildfire Photos (National Interagency Fire Center Image Portal)
http://142.163.108.157/nifc/index.html
An extensive collection of wildfire photos organized by topic and fire (images delivered as .zip files).
Photos, including wildfires (Bureau of Land Management Digital Photo Library)
http://www.photos.blm.gov/
Enter "wildfire" and a state or region in the search menu.
Photos: Forest Firefighters, 1918-1956 (National Agricultural Library)
http://www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/collect/fighters/
Photographs not readily available elsewhere.
Wildfire Photos (Wildlandfire.com)
http://www.wildlandfire.com/photos.htm
Photo sections include wildfires, firefighting crews and equipment, fire aviation, and more.
Photos: Prescribed Burning: before and after
| From Bryce Canyon National Park: http://azstrip.az.blm.gov/fire/history.htm | |
| From Grand Canyon National Park: http://www.nps.gov/grca/forest/photo.htm |
360° panorama of a controlled burn, Enchanted Forest Nature Sanctuary, Titusville, Florida, 1999
http://www.nbbd.com/godo/ef/burn1/
From this page, go to the QuickTime link.
Return to "The Use of the Land" Links to Online
Resources
Return to
the essay, History with Fire in Its Eye
E-mail new link suggestions to:
nhc_ed@nationalhumanitiescenter.org |
 |
  |
|
TeacherServe Home Page
National Humanities Center
7 Alexander Drive, P.O. Box 12256
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709
Phone: (919) 549-0661 Fax: (919) 990-8535
Revised: February 2006
nationalhumanitiescenter.org