The first documentary history of wildfire management in the United States, Burn Scars probes the long efforts to suppress fire, beginning with the Spanish invasion of California in the eighteenth century and continuing through the US Forest Service’s relentless nationwide campaign in the twentieth century. The Forest Service argued that suppression was critical for good forest management, especially but not exclusively in the American West. In recent years, suppression has come under increasing scrutiny as a contributing factor to our current era of megafires.

Join us for an online presentation with Dr. Char Miller, author of Burn Scars, as we discuss the many historical efforts to suppress fire, focusing also on the Indigenous practice of cultural burning as part of traditional stewardship.

Char Miller is the W. M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis and History at Pomona College. His most recent books include Natural Consequences: Intimate Essays for a Planet in Peril, West Side Rising: How San Antonio’s 1921 Flood Devastated a City and Sparked a Latino Environmental Justice Movement, and Theodore Roosevelt: Naturalist in the Arena. Miller is a Senior Fellow at the Pinchot Institute for Conservation, Corresponding Member of the Society of American Foresters, and a Fellow of the Forest History Society.

This program will take place online over Zoom. Registration is required.

Community & Climate is an adult lecture series focused on global climate action, aiming to raise community awareness and engage residents in building a healthier and more just world. Through a diverse range of expert voices, we will examine the intersections between innovative technologies, social justice, and climate equity, further focusing on the tangible, human-centered solutions emerging directly from our neighborhood and cities. Learn more about upcoming talks with the links below:

• Thursday, September 25 - Environmental Impacts of AI with Dr. Shaolei Ren
• Thursday, October 2 - A Just Transition for All: Author Talk with Dr. Mijin Cha
• Thursday, October 16 - Keeping Water-Wise: Conservation as a Way of Life in Sunnyvale
• Monday, October 27 - California Native Plant Society: Gardening for Monarchs
• Thursday, November 13 - When Driving Is Not an Option: Author Talk with Anna Ziwarts
• Monday, December 1 - Humanity in the Anthropocene with Jason Wirth
• Thursday, December 4 - Charged: Author Talk with Jay Turner