Burning at the Edge: Integrating Biophysical and Eco-Cultural Fire Processes in Canada's Parks and Protected Areas

• Published in: Fire ecology Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 74 - 106
• Main Authors: White, Clifford A, Perrakis, Daniel D.B, Kafka, Victor G, Ennis, Timothy
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.01.2011; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Burning; Burns; Case histories; case studies; Climate change; conservation areas; Decision making; Drought; Ecology; ecosystems; Environmental changes; Environmental restoration; fire regime; Fires; Forum Article; humans; Land management; Landscape; landscapes; Life Sciences; Lightning; Management; managers; parks; Protected areas; Restoration; stakeholders; Canada; boreal forests; Canada; fire management; lightning fire; anthropogenic fire; fire regimes
• ISSN: 1933-9747; 1933-9747
• DOI: 10.4996/fireecology.0701074

Currently, high intensity, large-area lightning fires that burn during droughts dominate Canada’s fire regimes. However, studies from several disciplines clearly show that humans historically ignited burns within this matrix of large fires. Two approaches for fire research and management have arisen from this pattern: a “large-fire biophysical paradigm” related to lightning-ignited fires, and an “eco-cultural paradigm” related to human-caused burning. Working at the edge between biophysically driven fires and eco-cultural burns, and their associated management and research paradigms, presents unique challenges to land managers. We proceed by describing fire frequency trends across Canada, and how an interaction between changing climatic and cultural factors may provide better causal explanations for observed patterns than either group of factors alone. We then describe four case histories of fire restoration into Canadian landscapes moving through evolution, or deliberate intent, towards increasing emphasis on an eco-cultural paradigm. We show that use of cultural burns maintains this facet of the long-term regime while providing greater capacity for larger, higher intensity fires to occur with fewer negative ecological and socio-economic implications. Key lessons learned by practitioners restoring fire to landscapes include: 1) fire is only one process in ecosystems that also include other complex interactions, and thus restoration of fire alone could have unintended consequences in some ecosystems; 2) recognizing long-term human roles of not only fire managers, but also hunters and gatherers is critical in restoration programs; and 3) this diversity of past, present, and future ecological and cultural interactions with fire can link managers to a broad constituency of stakeholders. Bringing this variety of people and interests into the decision-making processes is a necessary pre-requisite to successful fire management at the edge.