User:HFHaider/Controlled burnsandbox

There are two basic causes of wildfires. One is natural, mainly through lightning, and the other is human activity. Controlled burns have a long history in wildland management. Pre-agricultural societies used fire to regulate both plant and animal life. Fire history studies have documented periodic wildland fires ignited by indigenous peoples in North America and Australia. Native Americans frequently used fire to manage natural environments in a way that benefited humans and wildlife, starting low-intensity fires that released nutrients for plants, reduced competition, and consumed excess flammable material that otherwise would eventually fuel high-intensity, catastrophic fires.

Fires, both naturally caused and prescribed, were once part of natural landscapes in many areas. In the US, these practices ended in the early 20th century, when federal fire policies were enacted with the goal of suppressing all fires. Since 1995, the US Forest Service has slowly incorporated burning practices into its forest management policies.

Fire suppression has changed the composition and ecology of North American habitats, including highly fire-dependent ecosystems such as oak savannas and canebrakes, which are now critically endangered habitats on the brink of extinction. In the Eastern United States, fire-sensitive trees such as the red maple are increasing in number, at the expense of fire-tolerant species like oaks.