Wildfire in southeastern Arizona, between 1859 and 1890
Bahre CJ. 1985. Wildfire in southeastern Arizona, between 1859 and 1890. Desert Plants. 7(4):190-194
The purpose of this investigation was to present descriptions of wildfires in southeastern Arizona gleaned from local newspapers published between 1859 and 1890. Newspaper accounts document frequent and large fires in grassland communities. Local newspaper accounts of wildfires in southeastern Arizona between 1859 and 1890 demonstrate that during that period, 1) wildfires were much larger in areal extent, especially in the grasslands, than they are at present; 2) the occurrence of large grassland fires declined after 1882, probably as a result of overgrazing; 3) the cessation of major grassland fires preceded the "brush invasion" of the 1890s; 4) Amerinds, especially the· Apaches, set wildfires; 5) wildfire suppression was favored by the early Anglo settlers; 6) wildfires occurred in all of the major vegetation communities, including desert scrub; and 7) wildfires were fairly frequent.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Bahre, Conrad
- Units
- SAGU , SODN
- Keywords
- brush invasion, climax communities, Deserts, Grasslands, History, lighnting, Overgrazing, Plant Communities, Plant Succession, Southeastern Arizona, wild plant ecology, wildfire suppression, Wildfires