From killer fires to ecosystem rehabilitation, an exhaustive survey exploring the ecological, social, and economic consequences of managing fires in U.S. wildland areas. Fire management involves protecting natural resources from fire but also using controlled burning for land management purposes. Who are the stewards of land management and the researchers who devote their entire careers studying fire? How are ecosystems restored after major fires? What are the economic ramifications and what assessment tools are available? Forest Fires: A Reference Handbook explores the historical, ecological, economic, and social dimensions of wildland combustion and their impacts in North America. Explaining how legislation and public perception have been shaped by historic fires and fire seasons, particular emphasis is placed on the summer of 2000 as a way of understanding and managing future fires. * Provides a detailed chronology of events, legislative acts, policy controversies, and precedents for fire management in the United States, illustrating how the fires discussed reflect a continuation of trends established in the 20th century and before * Includes biographies of past and present forest fire management leaders, scientists, academicians, and policy makers