This paper reviews the history of forest and prairie fires in Alberta to provide a background from which policy for its controland use may be derived. There were virtually no statements ofpolicy made until recent years. Policy must generally beinferred from reported activities, legislation, observations andcomments. This historical review spans over 300 years from pre-European days before the advent of the Hudson's Bay Company tothe present. A number of supplementary documents of interest foradditional background are included in the Appendix. Among theseis a set of early fire ordinances dating from 1832 to 1907. There is also a summary of the managing agencies and seniorofficials from 1870 to the present.

The Dept. of the Interior was in existence from 1873 to 1936.

Fire is a defining element in Canadian land and life. With few exceptions, Canada's forests and prairies have evolved with fire. Its peoples have exploited fire and sought to protect themselves from its excesses, and since Confederation, the country has devised various institutions to connect fire and society. The choices Canadians have made says a great deal about their national character. Awful Splendour narrates the history of this grand saga. It will interest geographers, historians, and members of the fire community.

Compiled by a radical journalist and poet in the early days of the French Revolution, these subversively satirical lives of women saints sought to win both women and men away from religion. Though based on authentic hagiography, Maréchal's "new" legendary introduces a skeptical, rationalist perspective that anticipates modern critical approaches. Along with Delany's thorough introduction and notes, Anti-Saints offers a new perspective on the cultural climate of the French Revolution and a strikingly modern contribution to our own public conversation on religion. A must for scholars and non-specialists alike, and lovers of audacious wit.

This book explores a relatively small, but interesting and anomalous, region of Alberta between the North Saskatchewan and the Battle Rivers. Ecological themes, such as climatic cycles, ground water availability, vegetation succession and the response of wildlife, and the impact of fires, shape the possibilities and provide the challenges to those who have called the region home or used its varied resources: Indians, Metis, and European immigrants.

The book contains 15 chapters and provides an overview and synthesis of forest fragmentation and its influences on key ecological processes and vertebrate productivity. Land use practices and their effects on vertebrate populations and productivity are discussed and examples of several planning approaches to address landscape-level management effects are described.

Stephen Pyne has been described as having a consciousness "composed of equal parts historian, ecologist, philosopher, critic, poet, and sociologist." At this time in history when many people are trying to understand their true relationship with the natural environment, this book offers a remarkable contribution--breathtaking in the scope of its research and exhilarating to read. Pyne takes the reader on a journey through time, exploring the terrain of Europe and the uses and abuses of its lands as well as, through migration and conquest, many parts of the rest of the world. Whether he is discussing the Mediterranean region, Russia, Scandinavia, the British Isles, central Europe, or colonized islands; whether he is considering the impact of agriculture, forestry, or Enlightenment thinking, the author brings an unmatched insight to his subject. Vestal Fire takes its title from Vesta, Roman goddess of the hearth and keeper of the sacred fire on Mount Olympus. But the book's title also suggests the strengths and limitations of Europe's peculiar conception of fire, and through fire, of its relationship to nature. Between the untamed fire of the wilderness and the tended fire of the hearth lies a never-ending dialectic in which human beings struggle to control natural forces and processes that in fact can sometimes be directed but never wholly dominated or contained.

Ken Drushka analyses the changes in human attitudes towards the forests, detailing the rise of the late nineteenth-century conservation movement and its subsequent decline after World War I, the interplay between industry and government in the development of policy, the adoption of sustained yield policies after World War II, and the recent adoption of sustainable forest management in response to environmental concerns. Drushka argues that, despite the centuries of use, the Canadian forest retains a good deal of its vitality and integrity. Written in accessible language and aimed at a general readership, Canada's Forests will be a must-read for anyone interested in the debate about the current and future uses of this precious natural resource.