THE LAW OF FIRE: RESHAPING PUBLIC LAND POLICY IN AN ERA OF ECOLOGY AND LITIGATION

"Probably the greatest single benefit derived by the community and the nation from forest reserves is insurance against the destruction of property, timber resources, and water supply by fire. "Gifford Pinchot (1905) "Fire is neither good nor evil; it is part of the natural process of change... I challenge the American people to recognize how fire and smoke... can and must continue to play an essential, natural role in the life cycle of the wildlands we live in and love." Bruce Babbitt (1997) This article explores the relationship between law, fire, and resource management policy on the public lands. It offers an overview of federal fire policy, describing the evolution of that policy and how the current forest health debate has shaped policy options. It reviews and analyzes the legal framework governing fire policy on public lands, focusing on relevant organic legislation and site-specific statutes, the interface between environmental law and fire management including recent Healthy Forests Initiative reforms, the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003, tort liability and other compensation doctrines, and the role of state law in shaping federal policy. It then places the fire policy debate in a broader public land policy context, arguing that the current legal framework is not fundamentally Hawed though some reforms are necessary to better accommodate fire on the public domain. It concludes that clear legal standards and procedures are necessary to ensure legitimacy and promote accountability in the uncertain and risk-laden wildfire policy setting.