Randy Olson, Melissa Farlow Photography

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Smoke and flames rise as Bureau of Land Management fire crew sets a prescribed burn in Oregon to clear land for grazing and reduce potentially flammable undergrowth. Years of fire suppression create an environment that is prone to wild fires during dry summers. Managing cattle land and wilderness ecosystems is a difficult balance. More than a billion dollars is spent annually suppressing wildfires that burn millions of acres of western land.

Though fire plays an integral role in many forest and rangeland ecosystems, decades of efforts directed at extinguishing every fire that burned on public lands have disrupted the natural fire regimes that once existed. Moreover, as more communities develop and grow in areas that are adjacent to fire-prone lands in what is known as the wildland/urban interface, fires pose increasing threats to people and their property.

Copyright
MELISSA FARLOW
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5100x3401 / 4.0MB
Keywords
Contained in galleries
The Big Open_Public Lands_National Geographic magazine and book 8/2001
Smoke and flames rise as Bureau of Land Management fire crew sets a prescribed burn in Oregon to clear land for grazing and reduce potentially flammable undergrowth. Years of fire suppression create an environment that is prone to wild fires during dry summers. Managing cattle land and wilderness ecosystems is a difficult balance. More than a billion dollars is spent annually suppressing wildfires that burn millions of acres of western land. <br /> <br /> Though fire plays an integral role in many forest and rangeland ecosystems, decades of efforts directed at extinguishing every fire that burned on public lands have disrupted the natural fire regimes that once existed. Moreover, as more communities develop and grow in areas that are adjacent to fire-prone lands in what is known as the wildland/urban interface, fires pose increasing threats to people and their property.