Fire-smart forest management: A pragmatic approach to sustainable forest management in fire-dominated ecosystems

Sustainable forest management in many of Canada's forest ecosystems requires simultaneously minimizing the socioeconomic impacts of fire and maximizing its ecological benefits. A pragmatic approach to addressing these seemingly conflicting objectives is fire-smart forest management. This involves planning and conducting forest management and fire management activities in a fully integrated manner at both the stand and landscape levels. This paper describes the concept of fire-smart forest management, discusses its need and benefits, and explores challenges to effective implementation.