In many ecosystems worldwide, fire plays a critical role as a natural disturbance that influences landscape pattern and function. The effects of fire disturbances at landscape levels are central to many tribal cultures in North America, and tribes extensively used fire to enhance valued resources and habitats. The implementation of cultural burns occurred for a variety of reasons at different locations, different frequencies, and in different seasons. Cultural fire regimes historically varied across North America and differed from natural fire regimes, as people influenced when, where, and how fires burned.