The purpose of the NPS Alaska Fire Ecology Program is to understand the ecological effects of fire on the landscape. Information is collected and analyzed about the effects of fire on vegetation, fuels, soil, and wildlife habitat. Information is also collected on the fire behavior associated with the fire effects. The information and results are provided to fire and resource managers, other park staff, the interagency agency fire community and the general public.The impacts of wildland fire in northern latitudes are well documented for boreal forests and to a lesser extent for tundra ecosystems; however, the processes and variability underlying ecosystem response are still under study. Under warm, dry conditions tundra fuels are highly flammable, and over the past fifty years more than 1.7 million hectares (4.1 million acres) of Alaskan tundra have burned. Fire influences not only vegetation succession and distribution but also wildlife habitat, permafrost, nutrient cycling, hydrology, water quality, and air quality. In addition, the natural fire regime (fire frequency, fire extent, and severity) and secondary fire effects are likely to respond to local and global climate changes. Both short-term and long-term monitoring of the effects of fire within tundra ecosystems of Alaska National Parks such as Noatak National Preserve, Bering Land Bridge National Preserve and Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve will provide a foundation to elucidate the complex relationship between fire and the landscape.