This text provides a comprehensive resource for studying the fundamentals of fire behavior, its ecological effects, and its cultural and institutional framework. It presents the fundamental physics and chemistry of fire, fire behavior, wildland fuels, the interaction of fires and weather, the ecological effects of fires, the structure of fire management programs, planning efforts, suppression strategies, prescribed fires, and global fire management. It provides foresters, range scientists, environmentalists, ecologists, and administrators of federal and state agencies with an authoritative and comprehensive resource.