When Forests Burn
The Story of Wildfire in America
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A fascinating look at the most destructive wildfires in American history, the impact of climate change, and what we're doing right and wrong to manage forest fire, from a National Book Award finalist. Perfect for young fans of disaster stories and national history.
A KIRKUS REVIEWS AND BOOKLIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Wildfires have been part of the American landscape for thousands of years. Forests need fire--it's as necessary to their well-being as soil and sunlight. But some fires burn out of control, destroying everything and everyone in their path.
In this book, you'll find out about:
how and why wildfires happenhow different groups, from Native Americans to colonists, from conservationists to modern industrialists, have managed forests and firethe biggest wildfires in American history--how they began and dramatic stories of both rescue and tragedywhat we're doing today to fight forest fires
Chock full of dramatic stories, fascinating facts, and compelling photos, When Forests Burn teaches us about the past--and shows a better way forward in the future.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Marrin (A Light in the Darkness) breaks down the history of wildfires and their place in the cycle of nature in this thorough work. Beginning in the Ice Age and traveling forward in time through the birth of natural forests into contemporary America, the author explains that forests need fire, a phenomenon, the creator suggests, that many Americans know very little about. Fire "removes aged and unhealthy trees and clears the forest floor of fallen branches," Marrin notes in plain text, and goes on to say that it wasn't until humans began interfering in this natural process by clear cutting areas for farms, lumbering entire forests, and utilizing incorrect forestry practices, that wildfires became uncontrollable. Citing incidents such as the 1871 Peshtigo Fire, the Great Hinckley Fire in 1894, and the Big Blow Up of 1919, which "incinerated more than three million acres of private and national forests," the creator implies that humankind's attempts to eliminate forest fires created inevitable disasters that are now "larger, hotter, and costlier that they would have been if allowed to burn according to nature's timetable," and posits that without intervention and education of past mistakes, these events will only become more frequent. Diagrams depicting environmental processes such as photosynthesis, archival images, and b&w photographs feature throughout; notes, selected sources, and an index conclude. Ages 10–up. ■
