"One of the most harmful things modern man has done to birds has been his attempt to exclude fire from fire-type pine forests. Importance of Fire to Wildlife Skip to Importance of Fire to Wildlife European immigrants readily adopted the Indians' woodsburning practices to improve range for cattle, reduce the risk of wildfire, increase visibility of snakes and large predators, and improve access. More than 10,000 years ago, Native Americans began burning southern forests and grasslands to drive game, improve grazing conditions for wildlife, clear land for farming, and improve their own safety from concealed attackers and from wildfires. "… riding through high open, pine forests, green lawns and flowery savannas in youthful verdure and gaity, having been lately burnt, but now overrun with a green enamelled carpet …"įor thousands of years, much of North Carolina burned every 1 to 10 years either at the hands of humans or from natural lightning ignitions."This plain is mostly a forest of the great long-leaved pine the earth covered with grass, interspersed with an infinite variety of herbaceous plants, and embellished with extensive savannas, always green…".Because of its many benefits to wildlife and its relative cost efficiency, fire is a land manager’s best tool to improve wildlife habitat.ĭuring his exploration of the southern United States in 1777, naturalist William Bartram described fields and forests greatly influenced by fire ( Figure 1):
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