Recommended Books & Films
Below is a list of books, articles, & documentaries/films that GCWC recommends for education on wildfire related issues and topics. GCWC, staff, & BOD do not endorse any authors or filmmakers nor do we profit from your reading or viewing. This list is provided as an educational resource for the community.
University of California Press
"The Pyrocene tells the story of what happened when a fire-wielding species, humanity, met an especially fire-receptive time in Earth's history. Since terrestrial life first appeared, flames have flourished. Over the past two million years, however, one genus gained the ability to manipulate fire, swiftly remaking both itself and eventually the world. We developed small guts and big heads by cooking food; we climbed the food chain by cooking landscapes; and now we have become a geologic force by cooking the planet."
You care about where your food comes from, so what about your wood products? This film from Landmark Stories, the University of Arizona, & Wallowa Resources takes you on brief narration through a few of the American West’s fire-dependent ecosystems. Journey through logging and fire history to our current wildfire issue and the modern forestry movement aimed at reintroducing fire and sustainable logging to restore our overgrown fire-adapted landscapes.
Experience the life of a wildland firefighter from alongside hotshot crews based on California’s National Forests. Filmmaker & director Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann takes you on the fireline right alongside these men and women, all the while explaining fire suppression history and how we've worked ourselves into the wildfire mess we’re currently in.
Elemental takes viewers on a journey with the top experts in the nation to better understand fire. We follow the harrowing escape from Paradise as the town ignited from wind-driven embers and burned within a few hours of the fire’s start. We visit fire labs where researchers torch entire houses to learn why some homes burn and others survive. We learn from Native Americans as they employ fire to benefit nature and increase community safety as they have for thousands of years. We follow researchers who work to understand the effects of climate on forests and the crucial role that natural forests play in storing vast amounts of carbon. Along the way we listen to people who have survived the deadliest fires to underscore the importance of this quest.