In September of 2004 National Park Service (NPS) crews were conducting a prescribed fire in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, near the south park entrance. In the wake of the disastrous fires in Southern California the year before, tensions were high. This dry California summer was longer than most, beginning early in the foothills and grass-covered savannahs lining the Central and San Joaquin Valleys. All the state and federal land management agencies were very edgy during the summer of 2004, after being roundly criticized for shortcomings during the Southern California fires. One bitter homeowner in a public meeting actually suggested that more firefighters should have lost their lives, had they really been dedicated to their duties protecting homes around San Diego.

Less than a year later, firefighters back in Yosemite National Park were vigilant for spot fires across the upper control line, since it was a tenuous mid-slope line with unburned fuels above. Ignition was moving at a slow pace, when the drone of an approaching aircraft caught the attention of the Burn Boss. A few moments earlier, an air tanker from the California Department of Forestry (CDF) arrived over the North Fork area, several air miles south of the ongoing prescribed fire. Unable to locate a smoke column in the reported location, the air tanker turned south back toward their home airstrip, the Sonora Air Attack Base. Spotting the smoke column from the NPS prescribed fire, the pilot and crew decided to "freelance" as it’s know in the professional parlance. Either thinking that this was the reported fire or another, yet unreported, new start, the air tanker began its final low approach. The pilot deftly maneuvered the plane, skimming the tree! tops before opening tanks that would dump several hundred gallons of chemical retardant directly into the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias.

Meanwhile, back on the ground, the Burn Boss desperately tried to raise the air tanker on established air-to-ground radio frequencies, all to no avail. All the appropriate notifications about the day’s prescribed fire had been made to local interagency cooperators, including the CDF Ranger Unit based in Mariposa. Having no luck raising the air tanker, firefighters scrambled to take cover, as the heavy retardant rattled treetops, dislodging limbs and other potential missiles from the overhead tree canopy. The recent fatality of an Arrowhead Hotshot firefighter from a broken tree top in Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park was enough to pique everyone’s awareness of overhead hazards. Finally, the Yosemite Emergency Communications Center was able to contact a CDF dispatcher and waive off the air tanker from making any further drops.

Few interagency ripples were caused by this dangerous stunt. As soon as it was determined that no lasting environmental impacts would result from the errant retardant drop, a cursory aviation report was filed and the matter dropped. Apparently, the NPS was satisfied with an embarrassed pilot and no bill from the State of California for the assistance.

This intentionally lit forest fire, or "controlled burn," as it is sometimes called, was only the most recent in a long history of burning in this grove of ancient trees. Burning in these groves reduces accumulated woody debris and smaller shade-tolerant trees in the understory. This pruning effect serves to protect the large trees from the effects of an unwanted wildfire burning in the surrounding fuel-choked mixed conifer forest, much of which is at great risk today from a hot, fast-moving fire. The same intentionally-lit fire also holds the key to the germination of the tiny seeds that eventually grow into ancient sequoia trees, as demonstrated by the swaths of young sequoia trees in the previously burned areas.

This work of restoring fire’s effect as a natural disturbance process takes a committed, well-trained staff of fire management professionals. The NPS firefighters burning in the Mariposa Grove last September had all the same basic wildland fire training as CDF firefighters, but those daring enough to practice the deliberate application of fire to the landscape require much more knowledge, experience and agency support. Orchestrating a prescribed fire weaves knowledge of meteorology, botany, fire behavior, and the effects of fire on vegetation into a visually stunning visual performance, best witnessed at night. Virtually all who practice this ancient art are driven by a strong desire to protect public and personal property from destruction and restore damaged landscapes. They will never see "Thank You, Fire Lighter" signs like the "Thank You, Firefighter" banners that pump up young firefighters returning from long shifts on destructive wild! fires. Firefighters involved in prescribed burning and fuel treatments have taken their profession to the natural next level of preventative treatment, rather than just treating the symptom – big fires resulting from fire exclusion. These professionals are often in legal quarrels with air quality regulators, reviled by neighbors, cursed by inconvenienced visitors to public lands, and are constantly badgered by hostile local politicians that hold the mistaken belief that timber harvest is a surrogate to burning.

In truth, those who are willing to take up the torch are also heroes, like their brothers and sisters in the broader firefighting community. The hero mythology should be expanded to include these fire management professionals, rather than leaving it to those in the more sexy branches of firefighting, like smokejumpers, helirappel crews, engine crews and others tending to or leaping from expensive heavy equipment. Forest workers conducting prescribed fires, burning piles in the snow, running wood chippers, and even those monitoring natural fires and reading vegetation monitoring plots may all, at one time or another, risk their lives as a part of their public service careers. These progressive fire managers, because of their qualifications, are also often called to help suppress wildfires around the country, when the need arises, leaving families and friends behind for weeks at a time to face the same dangers as their peers involved exclusively in fire "fighting! ."

The uninvited retardant drop amongst the ancient trees underscored the difference in approach to fire management between CDF and the NPS. The flight crew on board the air tanker was incredulous that someone would be burning in early September, when "fire season" was still considered to be in full swing. In fact, that thought probably never crossed their minds. To their credit CDF is an exceptional organization for suppressing fire in the wildland urban interface. Prescribed burning is much more difficult near communities and in the flashy brush and grass fuels they oversee. Prescribed burning can be safely conducted year-round under the proper circumstances. Homes and lives have been saved by prescribed burns and appropriate fuel reduction strategies. Where are the medals for the burners, who often risk much more than firefighters involved in fire suppression, both personally and professionally, to do the right thing on the landscape?