Understanding the historic context of fire in forests is important for designing and getting public buy-in for future controlled burns. In this webinar, Dr. Lauren Howard from Arcadia University will explain how fire histories are investigated and constructed, using Catoctin Mountain Park in western Maryland as an example. Catoctin is representative of many fire-adapted oak-pine forests in the Appalachians where fires haven’t burned in a long time, but where fires used to be very common. Trends in historic fire patterns at Catoctin will be presented and explained.