Land managers in Alaska are faced with the challenge of managing fire in a way that preserves human life and property while at the same time conserving the key ecological processes driven by fire. Because managers have little capacity to alter fire behavior by direct fuel manipulations across the large extent of Alaskan boreal forest, the ability to use and interpret natural variations in fire processes should be a major component of long-term fuel management in the region. This research focuses on predicting, interpreting, and maximizing the beneficial impacts of variations in fire severity on ecosystem rehabilitation and provides a direct contribution to fire management needs in Alaska. In addition, this research will contribute to our basic understanding of how changes in fire regime affect patterns of ecosystem recovery within boreal forests.