Public Statements 2008
The Changing Flame
Wildland Fire in the Global Context
Remarks by Tom Harbour
Director, Fire and Aviation Management, US Forest Service
At the Forest and Fire Protection Session
Global Climate Change Conference
May 5, 2008
Athens, Greece
Wildland fire lived peaceably in our forests for millennium. Left alone to live in the woods, wildland fire periodically rejuvenated the ecosystem upon which it depended. Infrequently our ancestors would experience the fury of fire, but the combination of ancient fire regimes, ancient land use patterns, and more moderate historic weather patterns led generally to peaceful co-existence.
Not today
In facing the complex conundrum of how we encourage healthy ecosystems and vibrant economies, nations around the world are faced with increasingly severe wildland fire. Many ecosystems are adapted to, and need, periodic fire to sustain them; however, faced with global climate changes, communities and societies can mitigate change only by identifying the roles of individuals and governments (at the local to national to international scale). Healthy ecosystems are a prime contributor to combat global climate change. Healthy societies sustain themselves by managing the impacts of wildland fire. Fire will never be vanquished from our lands.
This conference highlights an emerging role of regional and international cooperation to deal with the “Challenge of Change” in global climate trends by paying attention to the issue of increasing wildfire and by serving a collaborative role in promoting ways to ameliorate our future.
While language, customs, and culture can separate us, I’m here with my esteemed colleagues to remind you that all around the world, forest fires, bush fires, wildfires, fires in wildlands, whatever their name and in their infinite variety, are the same.
The fire Chief Kontokostas and I face is the same in Greece, Spain, Australia, Canada, and America.
The nature of the flame is changing. The Chief and I have seen this first hand in the course of our over 30 year careers.
Peaceful and benign flame, flame used to nurture and sustain and assist us, has become angry flame.
We, in the fire service, do heroic work, and we are pleased and proud to do it, but without some changes, without assistance, without cooperation, we will face more angry flame. Without help from others our jobs will become increasingly dangerous and costly to our societies. Strong forest fire services are important, but alone, they will never be sufficient.
Conferences like this, where you bring together divergent interests, in the context of climate change allow us the ability to recognize trends, exchange thoughts, interact with one another, and then influence both tactical and strategic directions.
Here at this multi-national conference, issues of national sovereignty and international cooperation will be debated. They are lofty ideas, but for the General and I, the vexing riddle of how to answer the angry flame is the same.
Scientists expect the incidence and severity of forest fires to increase dramatically. This is a result of demographics, changes in our natural lands, and climate change.
Across the Mediterranean, increased air temperatures and reduced summer rainfall are likely to lead to increased fire risk. In temperate regions, including the western U.S., Australia and the boreal forests of Canada and Russia, some researchers are predicting that increased temperature will extend typical fire seasons, with more fires occurring earlier and later in a given year. Although the effects will likely vary considerably among different ecosystem types, the total area burned will increase in some regions, as will fire severity and related economic losses.
Fire suppression efforts will not keep pace with these changes, and many fires may effectively burn through remote landscapes unimpeded by control efforts. Increased fire frequency and severity could also increase the risk that some rare species and ecosystem types will be lost.
This conference, along with Greek expertise and knowledge could be key to changing our paradigm.
The 2007 fires here in Greece, as well as our 2007 fires in southern California, are the result of nature and people interacting in ways both deep and nuanced.
We can find ways to both protect from wildfire and capture sizeable benefits from forests bring to mitigating climate change. We can promote a more enlightened effort to both improve our forest firefighting effectiveness and natural resource management
Healthy ecosystems are a prime contributor to combat global climate change. Healthy societies sustain themselves by managing the impacts of wildland fire. Fire will never be vanquished from our lands.
General Kontokostas and I have faced severe threats due to forest fire in our past.
Given the intersection of
(1) forests that are increasingly flammable and will burn
(2) Increasingly severe weather which fans forest fires and
(3) People who live near the forests, who recreate and use the forests, and who increasingly do not understand the nature of fire
We will face similar severe seasons again
But there is hope. We can
(1) better manage our wildlands
(2) promote well accepted international fire management principles which have been developed. These fire management principles call for the restoration of the health of forested ecosystems, a key component in moderating climate change
(3) encourage homeowners and developers to build more “fire friendly” homes and communities
(4) better clarify the role of the individual, local government, provincial/state government, and federal government
(5) step forward in better international exchange of information and assets
(6) support implementation of capacity to redeem/implement these changes
(7) be a leader, as the Greek Fire Brigade has done in reaching out to others to both teach and learn
And, as this conference proposes,
(8) we can work to mitigate the affects of climate change.
We are here in the place where democracy was born. We are here where the art and science of the dialectic first flourished. We must ask ourselves, what can we learn? Can we learn to have a more sustainable system for our forests, our people, and our climate? How can we best leverage the individual, the NGO, and all levels of government (local to federal?)
There is no question that forest fire will be with us forever. This is the place where Prometheus first unleashed the flame, but Prometheus unleashed fire to help and nurture us, not to harm us. Perhaps no flame is as symbolic of the promise of fire as is the Olympic flame, the pure fire which emanates from the Pelleponeese.
Forest fire, wildland fire, can be managed. The question is, will we live in peaceful co-existence with the flame, or will be forever at war? Will we change the flame or will the flame change us?
Ours is the choice