Uses for Small-Diameter and Low-Value Forest Thinnings

Americans lived in untouched wilderness among large old-growth forests. However, various fire history studies show that Native Americans burned land to manage natural resources, although they did so in uneven geographic distributions and with varying effects (Swanson 2002). As a result, fire was an important element in the natural cycle of many forests when European settlers arrived in this country. By the 1920s, however, catastrophic fires had generated national policies of fire suppression and prevention. A new breed of firefighters emerged using increasingly sophisticated technologies and fire-fighting procedures. They were very successful at their jobs—perhaps too successful. After 80 years of fire suppression, forests in the United States now contain enormous quantities of small trees and brush that have grown up in places where fire had once been a frequent visitor.