Policies related to the "protect and preserve" mentality grew out of romantic era writings dating back to the 17th century which were not based on science or an understanding of the various ecosystems that European conquest came across. Most of the peoples in these new lands were considered to be privative stone aged peoples, sadly a mythology carried forward by anthropologists up until the last few decades. Omer Stewart was one who tried to bring forward the concepts of Indigenous burning practises but his works were heavily suppressed by his peers. Henry T. Lewis and Kat Anderson published his papers in a book called "Forgotten Fires", well worth the read if you can find it. Lewis and Anderson have both published excellent research related to the subject. Lewis had made a 16mm film called "The Fires of Spring" back in the late '70's, early 80's. He had digitized it and was re-editing it when he passed on. I was able to post the edited version on YouTube. You can view it here.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX0rhYqkC4Q PS, in your photos, you referenced "less than a decade", did you mean less than a century?
Hi Rick, I'm going to watch this video soon. And thanks for catching my typo! I have read Forgotten Fires, along with Kat Anderson's book Tending The Wild, both excellent resources. I'm writing a book on these subjects which means I'm reading everything I can get my hands on. Would you be willing to share which romantic writings this "protect and preserve" mentality was based on? I'd very much appreciate that if so, and if not that's totally fine! Thanks so much for reading and for your thoughtful engagement.
I've done considerable research into Indigenous Burning practises and try to emulate their techniques to achieve the second order fire effects that I am seeking on the prescribed burns I undertake. I believe that the Indigenous understanding of both flora and fauna responses to fire or "Second Order" fire effects as Western Science refers to them as, far exceeded our knowledge today, 500 years ago....
As for romanticism, well it was pretty much escapist fiction but it also had a political overtone. New worlds and new peoples were being "discovered" and they were populated with "primitive stone aged" peoples who were uncorrupted by modern civilization... Both North America and the South Pacific were perceived as innocent "Edens". Significant debates raged on about "Civilized morality" and "natural self". A literary stock character, the "Noble Savage" appears in numerous writings of the era. He/She is portrayed as a primitive, an outsider, or wild human, who has not been "corrupted" by civilization, and naturally has the innate goodness of humanity. This is an extensive topic which I cannot do credence to. An example of the romanticism mythology character would include "Chingachgook" from James Fenimore Coopers series "The Leather Stocking Tales". The romantic era concept of "Nature or Natural" has become the core of many environmental policies. The "preserve and protect" mentality that has developed and is central to so many of our land management policies is not based on science but on politics.
Within these numerous policies, is also the widely adapted concept of fire exclusion. Fire exclusion is considerably different from wildfire suppression or prevention policies. We have numerous species that adapted to the human use of low intensity fire over thousands of years. Today, many of these same species, are now threatened, endangered, at risk, or even extinct. The question that I have: "Is this a direct result of fire exclusion?".
Super interesting. I'm constantly blown away by my pre-conceived notions of what forests/landscapes *should* look like when I learn more about things like high-severity fire regimes, the historical precedence of stand-replacing fires and how in many places (northern, east slope Rockies especially), regular fire historically maintained prairies and shrublands that have since become densely forested. Thanks for a thought-provoking read.
Thank you Amanda! And thanks so much for reading. It's always stunning to me how my old "conservation" mentality was actually destructive...lots of work to do in order to create new paradigms.
Policies related to the "protect and preserve" mentality grew out of romantic era writings dating back to the 17th century which were not based on science or an understanding of the various ecosystems that European conquest came across. Most of the peoples in these new lands were considered to be privative stone aged peoples, sadly a mythology carried forward by anthropologists up until the last few decades. Omer Stewart was one who tried to bring forward the concepts of Indigenous burning practises but his works were heavily suppressed by his peers. Henry T. Lewis and Kat Anderson published his papers in a book called "Forgotten Fires", well worth the read if you can find it. Lewis and Anderson have both published excellent research related to the subject. Lewis had made a 16mm film called "The Fires of Spring" back in the late '70's, early 80's. He had digitized it and was re-editing it when he passed on. I was able to post the edited version on YouTube. You can view it here.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX0rhYqkC4Q PS, in your photos, you referenced "less than a decade", did you mean less than a century?
Hi Rick, I'm going to watch this video soon. And thanks for catching my typo! I have read Forgotten Fires, along with Kat Anderson's book Tending The Wild, both excellent resources. I'm writing a book on these subjects which means I'm reading everything I can get my hands on. Would you be willing to share which romantic writings this "protect and preserve" mentality was based on? I'd very much appreciate that if so, and if not that's totally fine! Thanks so much for reading and for your thoughtful engagement.
I've done considerable research into Indigenous Burning practises and try to emulate their techniques to achieve the second order fire effects that I am seeking on the prescribed burns I undertake. I believe that the Indigenous understanding of both flora and fauna responses to fire or "Second Order" fire effects as Western Science refers to them as, far exceeded our knowledge today, 500 years ago....
As for romanticism, well it was pretty much escapist fiction but it also had a political overtone. New worlds and new peoples were being "discovered" and they were populated with "primitive stone aged" peoples who were uncorrupted by modern civilization... Both North America and the South Pacific were perceived as innocent "Edens". Significant debates raged on about "Civilized morality" and "natural self". A literary stock character, the "Noble Savage" appears in numerous writings of the era. He/She is portrayed as a primitive, an outsider, or wild human, who has not been "corrupted" by civilization, and naturally has the innate goodness of humanity. This is an extensive topic which I cannot do credence to. An example of the romanticism mythology character would include "Chingachgook" from James Fenimore Coopers series "The Leather Stocking Tales". The romantic era concept of "Nature or Natural" has become the core of many environmental policies. The "preserve and protect" mentality that has developed and is central to so many of our land management policies is not based on science but on politics.
Within these numerous policies, is also the widely adapted concept of fire exclusion. Fire exclusion is considerably different from wildfire suppression or prevention policies. We have numerous species that adapted to the human use of low intensity fire over thousands of years. Today, many of these same species, are now threatened, endangered, at risk, or even extinct. The question that I have: "Is this a direct result of fire exclusion?".
Super interesting. I'm constantly blown away by my pre-conceived notions of what forests/landscapes *should* look like when I learn more about things like high-severity fire regimes, the historical precedence of stand-replacing fires and how in many places (northern, east slope Rockies especially), regular fire historically maintained prairies and shrublands that have since become densely forested. Thanks for a thought-provoking read.
Thank you Amanda! And thanks so much for reading. It's always stunning to me how my old "conservation" mentality was actually destructive...lots of work to do in order to create new paradigms.