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Natural Fire

Some ecosystems depend on periodic fires to maintain the habitats which make up the ecosystem. In these fire adapted areas, fire promotes plant and wildlife diversity and burns away accumulations of live and dead plant material (leaves, branches, trees).

FIRE DEPENDENT ECOSYSTEM MAP

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	•	Common throughout the Rocky Mountains of the western United States, generally found in unmixed stands at higher elevations.
	•	Natural Fires in this ecosystem usually occur at intervals of 200 to 300 years.
	•	Each subsequent stage of a lodgepole pine community displays different reactions to fire.
	•	Fire suppression, however, creates a fuel buildup that is difficult to manage, and suppression is not consistent with maintaining ecological communities, creating more intense fires.

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Fire is Nature's Housekeeper

Fires have burned regularly, consuming vegetation, accumulations of insects and diseases, and triggering a rebirth of forests.

Many plants have evolved adaptations that protect them as a species against the effects of wildland fire, and some are even strengthened by it.

Nearly every region in the country has some kind of fire dependent plant or tree.

Some ecosystems such as deserts are not fire dependent and fire needs to be put out quickly to reduce damage.