Fire in North American Wetland Ecosystems and Fire-Wildlife Relations: An Annotated Bibliography

105. Higgins, K F. 1986. Interpretation and compendium of historical fire accounts 
          in the Northern Great Plains. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Resour. Publ. 161. 
          39 pp.

This review provides resource managers with background information to justify the study or use of fire in management and provides reference to historical fire accounts in the Northern Great Plains. The most frequently recorded fires were scattered short-duration events of small extent. Fires were recorded to have occurred in wetlands, but wetlands as well as sandy soil sites usually provided refuge from fire. Historical accounts support the conclusion that Native Americans of the Northern Great Plains did not subscribe to annual wholesale or promiscuous burning practices, but that they did use fire as a tool to aid hunting and gathering activities. Man-caused fires did not match the seasonal pattern of lightning fires, but more likely correlated with bison herd movements. [From author's abstract]

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