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General Technical Report
Title: Tested by fire: the cone fire and the lessons of an accidental experiment
Author: Maleki, Sussanne; Featured: Skinner, Carl; Ritchie, Martin
Date: 2007
Source: Science Perspective PSW-SP-008. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. 6 p
Description: Catastrophic wildfires burn every year in the forests of the Western United States. In the past, low-intensity wildfires were common and played an important ecological role that benefited these forests. But fire suppression policies over the last century have interrupted natural fire regimes. As a result, forests that were once characterized by an open structure and large trees are now densely packed with underbrush and smaller trees. As a further consequence, fires today tend to be uncharacteristically intense and destructive. Fire management treatments that reduce fuels through thinning and prescribed burning have proven to decrease wildfire severity.
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Citation
Maleki, Sussanne; Featured: Skinner, Carl; Ritchie, Martin 2007. Tested by fire: the cone fire and the lessons of an accidental experiment Science Perspective PSW-SP-008. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. 6 p.