2. The Oxbow (51.5 x 76 in.) painted in 1836 by Thomas Cole
Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm

3. The great American virgin wilderness of Thoreau and similar writers is a preposterous falsehood.
At the time of contact, North America was densely populated. By some estimates MORE densely populated that Europe at the same time.
Societies were sophisticated. Technologically advanced.
Perhaps the most important tool for land management used by Native Peoples was fire

4. Societies were sophisticated. Technologically advanced
Mayan Ruins

5. Incan Ruins

6. The great American virgin wilderness of Thoreau and similar writers is a preposterous falsehood.
At the time of contact, North America was densely populated. By some estimates MORE densely populated that Europe at the same time.
Societies were sophisticated. Technologically advanced.

7. Fire as an ecological force:
1) Reducing competition 2) Altering seed bed characteristics 3) Changing soil nutrient environment 4) Creating/Perpetuating a mosaic 5) etc.

8. Fire effects/features:
Reducing competition - Lethal temperatures
Fuel loads
Fire conditions
Residence time (duration)
Season of burning

9. Yellowstone National Park, 1988

10. Ponderosa pine, Arizona Longleaf pine, North Carolina
Photo, NAU ERI
Red pine, Minnesota
Photo by A. Rebertus

11. Longleaf pine

12. Longleaf pine

13. Highly dependant upon fire
Longleaf pine
Highly dependant upon fire

15. Frequency
Seasonality
Intensity
Fire return interval