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Fire, Forestry, and Wilderness
Special by Peter Pierson. AWC’s Granite Mountain Steward, Prescott College Graduate Fellow and Hulmes Legacy Scholar Peter Pierson reflects on ecological and philosophical considerations for managing fire and timber in wilderness.
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The Granite Mountain Hotshots with the old-growth alligator juniper tree saved during the human-caused Doce Fire, 2013.
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Human-Caused Wildfires & Wilderness
While fire is part of the ecological cycles of most ecosystems in the West, humans have significantly influenced both ecosystems and intensity of fire by decades of fire suppression, previous management decisions, and introduction of exotic plants such as annual grasses that easily ignite. A number of wilderness areas in Arizona have been impacted by human-caused fires, and many of these fires were started outside of Wilderness boundaries. Combined with climatic change, human-caused fires are resulting in a dramatic alteration of ecosystems in the West.
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AWC's Sam Frank surveying the aftermath of the 2013 Doce Fire.
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Wildfire Precautions on Public Lands
Wildfire. Just the word can evoke a mixture of emotions for most people: fear of the destruction wildfires can cause; respect for the role fire plays in many of our natural environments here in Arizona; and, of course, sorrow for the loss of places and people who have been victims of wildfire. Regardless of the feelings people have for wildfires, one fact unites everyone in this state: wildfires have been and always will be a part of Arizona.
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