Year-end Sale % OFF 
Abstract
In Sweden, prescribed burning was trialed as early as the 1890s for forest regeneration purposes. However, the origins of prescribed burning in Sweden are commonly attributed to Joel Efraim Wretlind, forest manager in the State Forest district of Malå, Västerbotten County, from 1920 to 1952. To more fully understand the role he played in the development of prescribed burning and the extent of his burning, we examined historical records from the State Forest Company’s archive and Wretlind’s personal archive. The data showed that at least 11,208 ha was burned through prescribed burning between 1921 and 1970, representing 18.7% of the Malå state-owned forest area. Wretlind thus created a new forestry-driven fire regime, reaching, during peak years, extents close to historical fire regimes before the fire suppression era, and much higher than present-day burning. His use of prescribed fire to regenerate forests served as a guide for many other forest managers, spreading to all of northern Sweden during the 1950–1960s. Our analysis of Wretlind’s latest accounts also shows how he stood against the evolutions of modern forestry to defend a forestry system based on the reproduction of natural processes, such as fire.
Highlights
It is today recognized that humans have influenced and shaped fire regimes, i.e., the set of biophysical parameters characterizing the pattern of fire occurrence in timeCommunicated by Juergen Bauhus.Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.1 3 Vol.:(0123456789)European Journal of Forest Research (2020) 139:393–406 and sustainable landscape management, including biodiversity conservation (Fernandes and Botelho 2003; Valkó et al 2016)
In Sweden, since the 1990s, conservation burnings have been performed within nature reserves, and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification requires Swedish forestry companies to apply prescribed burning on 5% of their annual clear-cut area on dry–mesic forestland, for biodiversity conservation purposes (FSC 2013)
What was the role of forest manager Wretlind in the development of prescribed burning in northern Sweden?
Summary
In Sweden, since the 1990s, conservation burnings have been performed within nature reserves, and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification requires Swedish forestry companies to apply prescribed burning on 5% of their annual clear-cut area on dry–mesic forestland, for biodiversity conservation purposes (FSC 2013). One of the objectives stated by the FSC regarding prescribed burning is to obtain the “most natural way to mimic the fire perturbation” (FSC 2013; p 12). These ideas are not new, since as early as the 1880s in northern Fennoscandia, fire was already seen as a possible tool in forest management, though for different purposes than biodiversity conservation. From the second half of the 1960s, prescribed burning was superseded by mechanical soil preparation (Granström 1991; Östlund et al 1997)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
