The Big Burn
Ratings9
Average rating4
15
Ratings9
Average rating4
Narrates the struggles of the overmatched rangers against the implacable fire of August, 1910, and Teddy Roosevelt's pioneering conservation efforts that helped turn public opinion permanently in favor of the forests, though it changed the mission of the forest service with consequences felt in the fires of today.
Reviews with the most likes.
Very interesting story about the early days of the National Forest Service.
Sadly, the efforts of the large timber and mining companies to buy members of Congress
to remove protections on National Forests is being seen again today.
It took about another 70 years for the National Parks and the Forest Service to learn and re-learn that
leaving small fires to burn was good for the forest and prevented giant fires like the one described in the book.
Just before the section on the big fire in 1910, I saw a Nova episode about the recent huge wildfires in California. Some of the horrors of the 1910 fire are now much better understood. Like fire hurricanes and tornadoes.
