Barriers and Opportunities for Wilderness Fire in a Time of Change
Center for Public Lands at Western Colorado University│ Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute
The Wilderness and Fire Workshop
The logo for the Wilderness and Fire Workshop, which includes fire, pines and a flying bird.
In December 2022, twenty-one experts from land management agencies, Tribes, and organizations from across the country convened at the Wilderness and Fire Workshop in Gunnison, Colorado to consider the effects of over a century of fire exclusion on federal wilderness areas. The experts discussed the threats posed to wilderness ecosystems by unprecedented fire deficits and agreed that fire should be thoughtfully and deliberately reintroduced to some of these landscapes through prescribed burning. In September 2023, the results of the workshop were published as a synthesis paper by Western Colorado University’s Center for Public Lands in collaboration with Rocky Mountain Research Station’s Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute. The synthesis paper presents the discussions of these fire and wilderness experts, including the opportunities they identified to help overcome barriers to using prescribed fire in wilderness.
Fire is one of the greatest tools that has ever been given to humankind
Fire has been present on the North American continent since its beginning, shaping ecosystems and being shaped in turn by the burning practices of people.
Over time, the frequency and intensity of fires - what scientists call a fire regime - influenced a landscape’s entire community of life, from plants to animals to people. Some landscapes thrived with frequent low- or moderate-intensity fires while others renewed themselves through infrequent high-intensity burns.
A fire scar promotes the regrowth of grasses, flowering plants, and ponderosa pines in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests.
A charred snag provides a nesting site for a robin on the Lolo National Forest.
Manzanitas regenerate following the 2020 August Complex Fire in the North Fork Wilderness in Six Rivers National Forest.
On the left, fire promotes the regrowth of grasses, flowering plants, and ponderosa pines in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. In the middle, a charred snag provides a nesting site for a robin on the Lolo National Forest. On the right, manzanitas regenerate following the 2020 August Complex Fire in the North Fork Wilderness in Six Rivers National Forest.
In addition to fires ignited by lightning, Indigenous land stewards across North America are known to have shaped fire regimes through their practices of cultural burning. These human-ignited fires served many purposes, from promoting the growth of certain plants to clearing trails and driving game to affirming a relationship of care between people and land.
In our modern era, the balance between fire, land, and people has been disrupted
Today, 98% of wildland fires are suppressed before growing larger than 100 acres. This practice of fire suppression was initiated in the early 1900s by European American colonizers. During this time period, the cultural burning practices of Indigenous peoples were criminalized as these communities were forcibly removed from their homelands. Intensive livestock grazing, which reduced fine fuels like grass, also began to alter landscapes and the fire regimes they once supported. The result has been a substantial fire deficit spanning more than 100 years.
Four photos from 1925, 1993, 2008 and 2013 show the same site as it changes. The second and third photo show a site with more trees and different tree species compared to the first photo. The last photo shows a site burned by fire.
These four photos show the same site of mixed conifer forest on the Lassen National Forest in California across a span of nearly 90 years. Prior to 1905, fire history data indicate that these forests burned every 5 to 15 years, with no fires burning after that date because of fire suppression policies. In the absence of fire, the forest experienced a notable increase in tree density and a shift from Jeffrey pine to white fir, as seen in the 1993 and 2008 photos. In 2012, the Reading Fire burned at high severity through the dense forest, resulting in complete canopy mortality. The severity of this fire was out of line with the low to moderate severity of historical fires.
Two photos of the same site in the Wallowa Mountains in the Eagle Cap Wilderness in Oregon, one taken in 1936 and one in 2018, show an increase in shade-tolerant subalpine fir and Engelmann spruce in what was formerly a forest comprised of copses and ribbons of trees surrounded by wet and dry meadows. This increase in forest cover and density is one of the factors leading to increasingly severe fires.
For millennia, our landscapes were shaped by lightning-ignited fires and the cultural burning practices of generations of Indigenous stewards. In the absence of fire, our landscapes are increasingly beginning to change, resembling less and less the ecosystems that came before.
Species adapted to fire are being outcompeted by those which are not, with an overall increase in plants and trees.
In this photo, a firefighter in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest tends to a burning pile of brush. This tactic is used to remove plants, trees, leaf litter, and other organic material from landscapes, reducing the presence of hazardous fuels.
A firefighter tends to a burning pile of brush.
Landscapes are becoming more homogenous without the ecological shake-up caused by burns. Scientists are even identifying declines in biodiversity and decreasing resilience to the stressors associated with climate change in landscapes whose historical fire regimes have been dramatically altered.
This photo shows dead Engelmann spruce trees in the Powderhorn Wilderness in Colorado in 2022. This area is part of the proposed North Powderhorn Fuels Project which is intended to treat up to 20,000 acres with prescribed fire over the next 15 years. The reintroduction of fire will help reduce fuels and create landscape heterogeneity - some open pockets amidst forest, younger generations of trees alongside older ones - that will allow for future lightning ignitions to be managed rather than immediately suppressed.
A landscape showing dead Engelmann spruce trees.
And when the inevitable fire does burn through – a matter of when, not if – the buildup of flammable material like leaf litter, the increased density of plants and trees, and today’s hotter and drier conditions are more likely to produce extreme fire behavior capable of converting forests into shrublands, grasslands or other vegetation types that do not resemble pre-fire conditions.
In this photo, repeated, high-severity fires have changed a forested site into a shrub field in the Dome Wilderness in New Mexico.
In this photo, repeated, high-severity fires have changed a forested site into a shrub field in the Dome Wilderness in New Mexico.
This unfortunate reality is known as the wildfire paradox. By suppressing and excluding fire on a continent which has always burned, we must now endure the increased likelihood of larger and more severe fires.
In this photo, the 2021 Telegraph Fire burns in Arizona.
Many of the forests in America’s federal wilderness areas, some of the most protected landscapes in the country, are undergoing unprecedented changes as a result of this fire deficit
In December 2022, twenty-one experts from land management agencies, Tribes, and organizations from across the country convened at the Wilderness and Fire Workshop in Gunnison, Colorado to consider the dilemma of fire within federal wilderness areas.
Today, the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) includes over 111 million acres of land in more than 800 wilderness areas. The NWPS was established by the 1964 Wilderness Act, which famously defines wilderness as “an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man.” The Act calls for the protection and management of these wilderness areas so as to preserve their natural conditions, leaving them unimpaired for future generations.
In addition to the lands in the NWPS, the Mission Mountains Tribal Wilderness (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes) and Blue Lake Wilderness (Taos Pueblo) are managed by Tribes following similar principles.
An interactive map of wilderness areas in the United States by Wilderness Connect
As Western science began to affirm the ecological importance of fire, long understood by many Indigenous land stewards, the federal agencies which manage wilderness started to promote the management of lightning-ignited wildfires within wilderness. Beginning in the 1960s and ‘70s, wilderness managers were encouraged to monitor these fires while allowing them to burn, in the hope that fire would be able to fulfill its ecological role on the landscape. Yet, the management of lightning-ignited fires remains an uncommon practice. The restoration of human-ignited fire to wilderness areas through prescribed burning is even rarer.
Many unanswered questions remain about how to best manage fire in wilderness areas.
The lightning-ignited 2022 Chilliwack Complex Fire burns in the Stephen Mather Wilderness in North Cascades National Park in Washington.
The lightning-ignited 2011 Pagami Creek Fire burns in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in the Superior National Forest in Minnesota.
On the left, the lightning-ignited 2022 Chilliwack Complex Fire burns in the Stephen Mather Wilderness in North Cascades National Park in Washington. On the right, the lightning-ignited 2011 Pagami Creek Fire burns in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in the Superior National Forest in Minnesota.
Experts agree: America’s wilderness areas need fire
At the Wilderness and Fire Workshop, experts agreed that fire should be allowed to move across wilderness areas to the greatest extent possible, provided it did not harm people or property. They identified prescribed burning as a critical management tool in restoring historical fire regimes and, by doing so, restoring the wilderness landscapes those fire regimes helped to create.
Some have viewed prescribed fire as in conflict with the untrammeled quality of wilderness, a characteristic highlighted in the 1964 Wilderness Act. Over the years, this untrammeled quality has been commonly interpreted to mean wilderness that is essentially unhindered and free from the intentional actions of modern human control or manipulation.
However, others argue that the exclusion of fire from wilderness areas – landscapes on which generations of Indigenous land stewards often ignited cultural burns – is itself an intrusion of modern humans attempting to assert control. The long legacy of lightning- and human-ignited fires created the historical fire regimes which influenced many of today’s wildernesses. Introducing prescribed burning into wilderness may be one step towards acknowledging the important role of Indigenous fire stewardship, both past and present, in shaping our landscapes.
In the synthesis paper produced from the Wilderness and Fire Workshop, experts said:
“In rethinking our current relationships with fire and the land, we find opportunities to regain the living power of fire for land stewardship. This includes caring for places designated as wilderness, which are intended to be free from the influences of modern humans.”
A firefighter surveys the 2011 South Fork Sun River prescribed fire in the Scapegoat Wilderness on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest in Montana.
A 2022 prescribed fire burns in the West Elk Mountains, a roadless area adjacent to federal wilderness in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison (GMUG) National Forest in Colorado.
On the left, a firefighter surveys the 2011 South Fork Sun River prescribed fire in the Scapegoat Wilderness on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest in Montana. On the right, a 2022 prescribed fire burns in the West Elk Mountains, a roadless area adjacent to federal wilderness in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison (GMUG) National Forest in Colorado.
Prescribed fire allows land managers to strategically determine where and when to burn. It can reduce the fuel loads – such as dead trees, leaf litter and other organic matter – which have accumulated on many of our landscapes over the last century, thus reducing the severity of future wildfires. It brings fire back to ecosystems which need burns in order to thrive.
Today, the use of prescribed fire within wilderness areas is rare. This is due to a number of real and perceived barriers. In response, experts at the Wilderness and Fire Workshop identified a series of opportunities to help overcome these barriers. These opportunities were developed to uphold wilderness values, honor Indigenous homelands, and support ecosystem health and resilience in wilderness landscapes.
Below, explore the twenty-one opportunities, organized under eight themes, developed by experts at the Wilderness and Fire Workshop.
Opportunities to help overcome barriers to using prescribed fire in wilderness
🔥 1: Acknowledge Indigenous cultural burning in wilderness
Indigenous cultural burning in wilderness could be better recognized and promoted as a means to educate agency personnel, special interest groups, and the public that human-ignited fires have been important components of historical fire regimes.
Scientific literature, policy language, and public messaging about fire would benefit from the inclusion of Indigenous ecological knowledge and cultural burning practices.
Tribal participation as voting members on the federal Interagency Wilderness Policy Council and Interagency Wilderness Steering Committee would allow for more effective incorporation of Indigenous ways of knowing related to fire and stewarding landscapes into the management of wilderness.
🌱 2: Develop messaging about the relationship between wilderness and fire
Educational initiatives could help agency leaders, special interest groups, and the general public better understand the historical role of fire in wilderness and the potential for prescribed fire to restore fire regimes, reduce wildfire severity, and respond to pressures of climate change.
Clarification that prescribed fire is legal and permissible in wilderness where it is the minimum necessary action for preserving wilderness character could increase acceptance of prescribed fire as a management option that can return wilderness ecosystems to healthier, more resilient conditions.
🤝🏽3: Expand and formalize collaboration
Increased cooperation, collaboration, and communication among federal land management agencies, Tribes, local and state governments, and NGOs would improve opportunities for effective wilderness stewardship including the use of prescribed fire.
Co-stewardship agreements with Tribes would facilitate knowledge-sharing and increase trust among partners.
Building partnerships that include Tribes as well as other non-federal entities in all phases of planning and implementation for prescribed burning in wilderness would increase effectiveness and trust.
📣 4: Initiate proactive and far-reaching public engagement
Revised timeframes for earlier public engagement would increase involvement with agency partners and the public regarding plans to implement prescribed fire.
Public trust around the use of prescribed fire in wilderness could be built by first developing a shared vision of desired outcomes, rather than communicating decisions late in the process.
Developing multi-agency agreements based on established partnerships would increase the effectiveness and efficiency of sharing resources for implementing prescribed fire in wilderness.
📗 5: Increase access to training
Training curriculums and experiential learning opportunities focused on prescribed fire in wilderness would benefit from an increased focus on understanding historical fire regimes, Indigenous cultural fire, fire ecology, and associated fire effects. Such training could be required for those involved in planning or implementing prescribed fire in wilderness, including wilderness specialists, resource specialists and advisors, fire personnel, and line officers.
Increased understanding of the Minimum Requirements Analysis Framework (MRAF) process and how to implement a Minimum Requirements Analysis (MRA) that specifically considers prescribed fire would benefit managers in making effective wilderness stewardship decisions.
Inviting the Arthur Carhart Wilderness Training Center to participate in training opportunities at the Prescribed Fire Training Center(s), particularly when one is established in the western United States, would help educate practitioners about the use of prescribed fire in wilderness.
Seeking Tribal participation for developing and instructing training specific to Indigenous burning practices could promote the sharing of Indigenous knowledge where it has been maintained, and rebuilding it where it has been lost.
📄 6: Create comprehensive and consistent interagency guidance and messaging
Comprehensive interagency messaging around prescribed fire in wilderness would support consistent interpretation of the Wilderness Act as it relates to fire management, and provide a better understanding of the value, benefits, and importance of considering prescribed fire as a tool that can support the preservation of wilderness character.
A multi-agency review to understand each wilderness management agency’s policy, guidance, and flexibility around prescribed fire in wilderness would encourage consistent prescribed fire use across the wilderness preservation system.
📛 7: Build leadership support
Developing an understanding of intent among agency leadership could encourage constructive risk-taking in support of wilderness prescribed fire.
If leadership support exists, a letter of support among agency leaders and staff written by national-level leadership could encourage the appropriate use of prescribed fire in wilderness.
🚒 8: Budgetary and administrative change
A dedicated fire workforce staffed with permanent full-time employees and supported by stable funding allocations would increase capacity for prescribed fire planning and implementation, both inside and outside wilderness.
Increased compensation, career development opportunities, and workforce diversity and inclusivity would reduce barriers to hiring and improve workforce retention.
For the benefit of present and future generations
For thousands of years, humans have influenced fire across North America, including in today’s wilderness areas. As a keystone ecological process, fire has a critical role to play on our landscapes – a basic principle confirmed by both Western science and Indigenous knowledge.
In this era of rapid change, we have both the opportunity and responsibility to recognize fire’s ability to renew our landscapes. In the vast expanses of America’s wilderness areas, we can reciprocate the gift of fire to the land, to the benefit of present and future generations.
A firefighter watches a prescribed burn in the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia.
A helicopter ignites a prescribed burn in the Scapegoat Wilderness on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest in Montana.
The Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in Idaho viewed through a charred old-growth cedar.
On the left, a firefighter watches a prescribed burn in the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia. In the middle, a helicopter ignites a prescribed burn in the Scapegoat Wilderness on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest in Montana. On the right, the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in Idaho viewed through a charred cedar.
The Wilderness and Fire Workshop was organized and hosted by the Center for Public Lands at Western Colorado University (WCU). Organizers included Alyssa Worsham (WCU Master of Environmental Management), Dagny Signorelli (WCU Master of Science in Ecology candidate), Melanie Armstrong (Professor at the University of Wyoming), and Jonathan D. Coop (WCU Professor). Additional support was provided by Sean Parks,Research Scientist at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute (ALWRI).
This StoryMap was created by Clare Boerigter, Wilderness Fire Research Fellow for ALWRI.
These four photos show the same site of mixed conifer forest on the Lassen National Forest in California across a span of nearly 90 years. Prior to 1905, fire history data indicate that these forests burned every 5 to 15 years, with no fires burning after that date because of fire suppression policies. In the absence of fire, the forest experienced a notable increase in tree density and a shift from Jeffrey pine to white fir, as seen in the 1993 and 2008 photos. In 2012, the Reading Fire burned at high severity through the dense forest, resulting in complete canopy mortality. The severity of this fire was out of line with the low to moderate severity of historical fires.
