Help Support Fire-related Conservation! With your help we can restore the natural role of fire in our landscapes. Fire Restores a Landscape A native blue gentian, Gentianella wislizenii, which had virtually disappeared from mountain meadows in southern Arizona. Natural fire helped to regenerate growth by the thousands - lack of fire had previously prevented regeneration. Tips for Avoiding Accidental Fires Next time you’re out and about in a fire-prone area, follow these top tips to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience.

Fire plays a vital role in maintaining the health of many natural areas. 

Restoring the natural presence of fire to landscapes — either through controlled burns or by letting naturally started fires burn — has brought new life to rare plants and animals and the habitats in which they live.

Excluding all naturally occurring fires, in contrast, can lead to a build up of undergrowth that fuels extreme fires that threaten both people and nature.

Learning to live with fire requires understanding the role of fire in nature:

• A certain amount of fire is sometimes necessary to allow animals and plants to thrive;
• Some fires that do not pose a threat to people or nature should be allowed to take their natural course;
• Individuals can take steps to protect their families, homes, pets and other structures from forest fires; and
• We must live and recreate carefully and compatibly with nature.

What You Can Do

• If you live in a fire-prone area, learn more about how to prepare your home:
  • Download the Firewise Communities Program's list of 50 things you can do to protect your home; or
  • Visit the National Interagency Fire Center web site Protecting your Home from Wildland Fire.
• Learn about how both you and your community can be Firewise.
• Read our top tips to avoid starting fires accidentally.
• Donate now to support the Conservancy work to maintain fire’s role where it benefits people and nature, and keep fire out of places where it is destructive.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © J. Schmidt/NPS (charred lodgepole pine and growth); Photo © Kari Greer (Intense fire heat consumed the fine fuels and became ghost ash during Kinishba Fire, White Mountain, AZ); Photo © Zim & Rose Ella Brown (Native blue gentian).