For 50 years, the U.S. Forest Service used Smokey the Bear to educate Americans about forest fire prevention. Later, the agency shifted focus to wildfires, which consume more than 4 million acres per year and kill more Americans than all other natural disasters combined.

To help combat the problem, forest managers have begun to use a technique called prescribed fire. Officials intentionally burn twigs, leaves, and other flammable materials on the forest floor that would literally add fuel to a wildfire.

“Today’s fire-adapted forests are dense with smaller trees and have greater quantities of fuel, resulting in an increased probability of large, severe wildfires,” says Don Miles, an associate professor of biological sciences. “It can take a forest 30 years or longer to recover from a catastrophic fire.”

Prescribed fire encourages new growth of native vegetation and is one of the most effective tools to prevent wildfires, according to the Forest Service. But now the agency and the U.S. Department of Interior are examining the impact of the technique on forest ecosystems and animal species such as birds and bats. The five-year, 13-site study, a collaborative effort among more than 100 scientists and forest managers, is designed to help managers understand the importance of correctly planning and implementing prescribed fires.

Miles, who has expertise in bird ecology, is participating in the study in Ohio’s state forests. He’s exploring the responses of bird and bat communities to four techniques: prescribed burning, thinning (the mechanical removal of trees), combined burning and thinning, and none. So far, Miles has found that thinning and the combined burning/ thinning techniques help maintain a variety of bird species, while the untreated sites show no significant change in diversity. The burning sites showed a decrease in some groundnesting birds, such as ovenbirds and wood thrushes, and an increase in birds that flourish in open habitats, such as chipping sparrows and the indigo buntings.

Miles hopes the government will continue the study so he can gauge the long-term impacts on birds and bats.

“It’s an important project to do,” says Miles, who will continue the project through the next two years. “It’s national and so will be used to affect national policy. Plus I get to combine my interests in bird ecology and conservation.”

To hear the “Mountain Lives” series, visit the Web at http://www.interworldradio.org, and in the “Quick Search” field at the top of the page type in “Mountain Lives.”