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Type: Journal Article
Author(s): Gifford Pinchot
Publication Date: 1899

'The study of forest fires as modifiers of the composition and mode of life of the forest is as yet in its earliest stages. Remarkably little attention, in view of the importance of the subject, has hitherto been accorded to it. A few observers who have lived much with the forest, such as John Muir of California, have grouped fire with temperature and moisture as one of the great factors which govern the distribution and character of forest growth; but so little has been said or written upon the subject that the opinion of each man seems to have been reached independently and upon the single basis of personal observation. The documents upon the subjects still reside, with very few exceptions, in the forest itself. It is unfortunate that our acquaintance with what might almost be called the creative action of forest fires should be so meager, for only through a knowledge of this relation and through the insight which such knowledge brings can there be gained a clear and full conception of how and why fires do harm, and how they best may be prevented or extinguished.'

Citation: Pinchot, G. 1899. The relation of forests and forest fires. National Geographic Magazine 10:393-403.

Cataloging Information

Topics:
Regions:
Alaska    California    Eastern    Great Basin    Hawaii    Northern Rockies    Northwest    Rocky Mountain    Southern    Southwest    National
Keywords:
  • Abies magnifica
  • charcoal
  • distribution
  • fire injuries (plants)
  • forest management
  • Idaho
  • Larix occidentalis
  • moisture
  • needles
  • pine hardwood forests
  • Pinus
  • plant growth
  • reproduction
  • slash
  • soils
  • South Dakota
  • temperature
  • Washington
  • wildfires
Tall Timbers Record Number: 9447Location Status: In-fileCall Number: Fire File DDWAbstract Status: Fair use, Okay, Reproduced by permission
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 35152

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by Tall Timbers and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of Tall Timbers.