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Type: Conference Paper
Author(s): W. D. Eshee
Editor(s): D. C. Bryan
Publication Date: 1997

Legal liability for prescribed burning has been and will be of significant importance to those engaged in this type of activity, In what situations will the prescribed burner be held pecuniarily liable? What factual scenarios denote non-liability? What are the statutory standards relating to legal liability? How do legislative mandates differ from state to state? Will simple negligence be the standard for the future, or is there a trend toward strict liability? The laws on prescribed burning will be compared and discussed in relation to current standards of conduct dictated by legislative enactments and court decrees. The course of conduct required by the law for prescribed burners will be discussed in relation to the reasonable prudent man standard for legal liability. Differences in civil and criminal liability will be examined. The employer-employee and employer-independent contractor relationships will be explored relating to prescribed fire activities. Future trends in legal liability will also be discussed for the landowner desiring to perform prescribed burning activities on his land. As our population grows and more pressure is placed on the land resource to produce more products from less land, some predictions will be made regarding landowner rights to engage in prescribed burning activites.

Citation: Eshee, W. D. 1997. Legal implications of using prescribed fire, in Bryan, D. C., Proceedings of the environmental regulation & prescribed fire conference: legal and social challenges. Tampa, FL. Center for Professional Development, Florida State University,Tallahassee, FL. p. 126-130,

Cataloging Information

Regions:
Alaska    California    Eastern    Great Basin    Hawaii    Northern Rockies    Northwest    Rocky Mountain    Southern    Southwest    National
Keywords:
  • air quality
  • burning permits
  • fire management
  • fire protection
  • land management
  • liability
  • smoke management
  • water quality
Tall Timbers Record Number: 10477Location Status: In-fileAbstract Status: Okay, Fair use, Reproduced by permission
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 36131

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.