ABSTRACT

The problem of smoke and its relationship to climate change is receiving considerable attentionthese days. Fire dependent ecosystems are in danger of being seriously degraded by the exclusion of fire. If you are a federal fire manager and your mission is to return these landscapes back into their historic range of variability; what are the practical challenges and options that confront you? A federal fire manager is also a manager of smoke. In addition to the quantifiable and highly variable factors of fuels, weather and topography that are in play; federal fire managers must often make decisions in a politically charged social environment, where they are always just one match away from potential disaster. How does one balance the critical needs of the landscape with the health of the local community and the future of the planet?