Prior to the European colonization of the Americas, indigenous peoples used fire to modify the landscape.[1] This influence over the fire regime was part of the environmental cycles and maintenance of wildlife habitats that sustained the cultures and economies of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas.[2] What was initially perceived by colonists as "untouched, pristine" wilderness in North America was the cumulative result of the indigenous cultural burning, creating a mosaic of grasslands and forests across North America, sustained and managed by the peoples indigenous to the landscape.[3][4][5][6][7]
Radical disruption of indigenous burning practices occurred with European colonization and the forced relocation of those who had historically maintained the landscape.[8] Some colonists understood the traditional use and benefits of low-intensity broadcast burns ("Indian-type" fires), but others feared and suppressed them.[9][8] By the 1880s, the impacts of colonization had devastated indigenous populations, and fire exclusion had become more widespread. By the early 20th century, fire suppression had become the official US federal policy.[10]
Understanding pre-colonization land management and the traditional knowledge held by the indigenous peoples who practice it provides an important basis for current re-engagement with the landscape and is critical for the correct interpretation of the ecological basis for vegetation distribution.[11][12][13][14]
- ^ Stewart, O.C. (2002). Forgotten fires: Native Americans and the transient wilderness. Tulsa, OK: Univ. of Oklahoma Press. pp. 364. ISBN 978-0806140377.
- ^ Lake, F. K., Wright, V., Morgan, P., McFadzen, M., McWethy D., Stevens-Rumann, C. (2017). "Returning Fire to the Land: Celebrating Traditional Knowledge and Fire" (PDF). Journal of Forestry. 115 (5): 343–353. doi:10.5849/jof.2016-043R2.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Arno & Allison-Bunnel, Stephen & Steven (2002). Flames in Our Forest. Island Press. p. 40. ISBN 1-55963-882-6.
- ^ Anderson & Moratto, M.K, and M.J. (1996). Native American land-use practices and ecological impacts. University of California, Davis: Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project: Final Report to Congress. pp. 187–206.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: publisher location (link) - ^ Vale, Thomas (2002). Fire, Native Peoples, and the Natural Landscape. United States: Island Press. pp. 1–40. ISBN 155963-889-3.
- ^ Pyne, S.J. (1995). World fire: The culture of fire on Earth. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.
- ^ Hudson, M. (2011). Fire Management in the American West. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado.
- ^ a b Weir, John (2009). Conducting Prescribed Burns: a comprehensive manual. Texas: Texas A&M University Press College Station. pp. 1–12. ISBN 978-1-60344-134-6.
- ^ "Native Americans used fire locally, not across the broad landscape". CCI. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
- ^ Brown, Hutch (2004). "Reports of American Indian Fire Use in the East". Fire Management Today. 64 (3): 17–23.
- ^ Barrett, S.W. (Summer 2004). "Altered Fire Intervals and Fire Cycles in the Northern Rockies". Fire Management Today. 64 (3): 25–29.
- ^ Agee, J.K. (1993). Fire ecology of the Pacific Northwest forests. Washington, DC: Island Press.
- ^ Brown, J.K. (2000). "Introduction and fire regimes". Wildland Fire in Ecosystems: Effects of Fire on Flora. 2: 1–7.
- ^ Keeley, Jon (Summer 2004). "American Indian Influence on Fire Regimes in California's Coastal Ranges". Fire Management Today. 64 (3): 15–22.
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