>> The earth, born in the fire, baptized by lightning,
since before life's beginning has been and is a fire planet.
[Background Music] After years of aggressive fire suppression,
every forest service employee needs
to understand why prescribed fire is now becoming our most effective management tool
in restoring and maintaining healthy and productive watersheds and forests.
In fact, not all fires are bad.
Many of our ecosystems are dependent on fire, and the effective fire, its location
and intensity, can be controlled through prescribed burning.
>> It's important that we, as natural resource managers, appreciate the role of fire,
value the role of fire and in fact, put fire back into the ecosystem where it once it was.
>> I like to view fire as one of the cleansing agents of the forest,
of the land just like wind and water.
The application of prescribed fire is actually a preventative tool
against the catastrophic fires.
For example, that occurred in Yellowstone in 1988.
In fact, our best defense is to fight fire with fire.
Only, we want to fight the fire on our terms of prescribed burn--
A cool fire that reduces the fuels on the forest floor that revitalizes the forest ecosystem.
[ Music ]
What we want to take a look at here on the Mark Twain National Forest is a prescribed burn.
To take a look at the best science being applied on the land by some of the best experts
in the country that worked for the forest service.
>> Conducting a prescribed burn requires many people from many disciplines.
>> Houston is [inaudible].
>> It also requires strict adherence to safety principles.
>> Man, our test fires are looking really good here.
I think we're a go on this one.
Have you got an updated--
>> Established procedures and a great deal of coordination.
>> We're looking at 75 degrees, 30% humidity, and the winds are out of the South for about 14.
>> That's a copy on that.
Dave, take a torch and start around at west side, if you would.
>> I copy.
>> In most wild land ecologies, fire is as essential as water.
It's necessary.
After generations of putting out all fires, large and small in our national forests,
we have unwittingly added problems to nature's delicate balance.
Problems like highly-flammable fuels, dead twigs, leaves, and needles,
and the small overcrowded saplings that burst into flame
and carry fire to the crowns of mature trees.
They combine to make a catastrophic super hot fire that nothing can survive.
Lack of fire also allows pests to thrive, weakening and killing even big trees,
adding more fuel for forest killing blaze.
That's why we, the forest service, use carefully planned fire to help restore nature's balance.
>> One of the most difficult things about being a burning boss is really getting the desired
effect that you want.
Anyone can burn a patch of land but to be able to do the burn and say,
"this is what we really wanted to accomplish," and to be able to say, you know,
that the imprint that you've left there is going to be what you want for,
not just this year but for years to come.
>> Prescribed fire is just that.
Prescribe.
>> Prescription is the type of weather we want, the humidities that we want,
the moisture that's in the fuels that we want.
Everything has to be perfect now before we ignite to burn.
>> The real advantage of the coal burn is that it really reduces the fuel load,
so when we do have a fire, that's not a catastrophic event.
You're going from a time, let's say, 70 or 80 years ago where we thought all fire was mad.
We've really seen fire as a friend today and now it can restore our ecosystem.
Another change has been the need to integrate and work with local communities to make sure
that they understand why the application of prescribed fire is important.
>> Reducing the amount of natural fuel in the forests can, in some circumstances,
help reduce the threat of catastrophic fires that have the potential
to wreak havoc in adjacent property.
But the forest service cannot achieve this alone.
We must work with local people to gain acceptance and support for prescribed burning.
>> I take that as a challenge for this agency.
It's not only I go up there and to act as the people that have all the answers,
but to get in touch with the communities and the influencers out there
so that they can influence other people.
>> Getting the word out to the public is always an important step
in planning for a prescribed burning.
>> Jodie Everwood [assumed spelling] with the forest service, over at the Rolla.
And tomorrow we're planning on conducting about four prescribed burns
around the Houston, Rolla District--
>> As we get more of our publics moving into the rural areas, we have more of a health concern.
For instance, a child with asthma may be very allergic to smoke.
We need to know about that and we need to balance what we're dealing
from natural resources and how it affects the health for our public--
>> These and other concerns are all way during the planning of a prescribed fire.
But the most important considerations are safety and outcomes.
[ Music ]
>> It'll take more than one burn to really treat some
of this hard wood the way it needs to be treated.
We met our objective here of fuel reduction.
We've met our objective here for wildlife in terms of opening some things up
and reducing those really thick brushy patches.
>> This burn is only about three weeks old and you can tell here
where we've got a lot of green vegetation coming back.
Yes, you can hardly tell that it has been burned here unless you just pull this back
and take a look at it.
>> While there's still some of the duff left here and, you know, really good protection
of these top soils here, so we won't have any erosion.
It looks like a really good job to me.
That leaf litter layer and the organic soils have been over just like a sponge,
supping that water up and keeping it on the land longer is the objective.
And by restoring the functions of the watershed through the use
of prescribed fire is the way we do that.
>> When we have to worry about water, it's not just the water that you can see,
it's water that's underground that provides a lot of drinking water
for most of our real communities.
>> Seventy-five percent of the recreation that occurs in the United States occurred
within a quarter of a mile of water of the coast, the lake or a spring.
>> And a lot of animal activity takes place within that quarter mile of the water also.
We need to think about our activities in terms of making sure
that that riparian area right next to the water is protected and is available
for all those critters that like to use it either permanently
or on their way to and from other places.
>> With actually plants and burns in and around the wreck areas, to increase the opportunities
for berry-picking, increase the opportunities for wildlife viewing
because we've got the increased forage and greater viewing [inaudible].
>> We have several examples of glade communities on this forest where we burn them
and the prairie wildflowers come back just gang busters, and people driving
by are just astounded when they see that kind of color and it's really nice visually to be able
to have that variety on the forest.
>> We need to take a look at forest management and all land management for the long term.
We want to make sure that our watersheds are functioning, that we have clean water,
recreation opportunities, healthy forest for future generations.
Prescribed fire is important.
It's one of the many tools that we apply in managing the land.
The land that belongs to all of the people.
[ Music ]
[ Silence ]