Explore the many dimensions of wildfires and wildfire prevention
in the United States, including fire and forest management policies, wildlife conservation considerations, economic implications, and heightened vulnerabilities stemming from
climate change.
How have agricultural and public land policies, past and present, responded to the threat of wildfires? What is it like to be a firefighter in the American West, where most of the nation's most devastating wildfires are concentrated? How many thousands of acres are burned up by wildfires every year? Is climate change increasing the severity and frequency of wildfires? This one-stop resource answers all these questions and many more about wildfire and its impacts on American lands and livelihoods.
By:
Jacqueline Vaughn (Northern Arizona University USA)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9798765131367
Series: Contemporary World Issues
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 19 March 2026
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary & secondary/elementary & high school
,
Primary
,
Children's (6-12)
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
PREFACE 1. BACKGROUND AND HISTORY Introduction: The “Ancient Alliance” between Fire and Humanity Indigenous Peoples’ Beliefs and Use of Fire The Light Burning Debate Types of Wildfires Wildfires by the Numbers Fire Weather and Drought Human-Caused Wildfires Natural Causes of Wildfires Approaches to Wildfire Management Wildfire Agencies and Organizations Further Reading 2. PROBLEMS, CONTROVERSIES, AND SOLUTIONS Introduction The Impacts of Wildfires Potentially Compensable Losses: Who Pays? The Cost of Fighting a Fire Accounting for Impacts Wildfire Politics and Policy Wildfire Mitigation What Else Does the Future Hold? Further Reading 3. PERSPECTIVES Building Resiliency with a Community Wildfire Protection Plan, Cathy Barta The Interface between Wildland Fire Science and Decision Making, Tim Brown Ocean on Fire: How Wildfires Both Nourish and Threaten Marine Life, Julie Dinasquet and Douglas S. Hamilton Expectations and Reality: Wildfire in the Wildland Urban Interface, Dirch Foreman Hot Mess, Jeff Shelton 4. PROFILES Stephen F. Arno (1943–2022) Robert Douglas Barbee (1935–2016) Harold Hubert Biswell (1905–1992) Coert DuBois (1881–1960) Harry Thomas Gisborne (1893–1949) William Buckhout Greeley (1879–1955) Weldon Heyburn (1852–1912) Susan J. Husari (1953– ) Abigail R. Kimbell (1953– ) Edwin Vaclaw Komarek, Jr. (1909–1995) The Nature Conservancy Gifford Pinchot (1865–1946) Edward Crockett Pulaski (1866–1931) Stephen J. Pyne (1949– ) Jan Willem van Wagtendonk (1940–2022) Further Reading 5. DATA AND DOCUMENTS Data Table 5.1: Top Ten Costliest US Wildfires, by Dollar Loss 2024 Value (1993–2024) Table 5.2: Top Ten Deadliest US Wildfires, by Human Lives Lost (1871–2024) Table 5.3: Top Ten Largest US Wildfires, by Acres Burned (1898–2024) Table 5.4: Total US Wildland Fires and Acres Burned (1984–2024) Documents “The Relation of Forests and Forest Fires,” Gifford Pinchot (1899) Weeks Act (1911) Fire Suppression, Roy Headley (1916) The Uncontrollable Fire, Roy Headley (1919) “Wildlife Management in the National Parks,” The Leopold Report (1963) Fergus County, Montana, Community Wildfire Protection Plan (2024) Executive Order N-1-25, California Governor Gavin Newsom (2025) Hawai’i Supreme Court Order: Maui Fire Cases (2025) 6. RESOURCES Books Articles Government Documents and Other Monographs Electronic Media Other Sources 7. CHRONOLOGY GLOSSARY INDEX
Jacqueline Vaughn, Ph.D., is professor emerita of political science at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
