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We celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Journal of Forest Research by reflecting on the considerable progress accomplished in select areas of Canadian wildland fire science over the past half century. Specifically, we discuss key developments and contributions in the creation of the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System; the relationships between wildland fire and weather, climate, and climate change; fire ecology; operational decision support; and wildland fire management. We also discuss the evolution of wildland fire management in Banff National Park as a case study. We conclude by discussing some possible directions in future Canadian wildland fire research including the further evaluation of fire severity measurements and effects; the efficacy of fuel management treatments; climate change effects and mitigation; further refinement of models pertaining to fire risk analysis, fire behaviour, and fire weather; and the integration of forest management and ecological restoration with wildland fire risk reduction. Throughout the paper, we reference many contributions published in the Canadian Journal of Forest Research, which has been at the forefront of international wildland fire science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidemiological studies have shown that high levels of fine particulate matter (PM) are correlated with adverse human health effects. Approximately one-third of PM emissions in Canada originate from forest fires. However, air quality concerns are not typically included in resource allocation decisions in fire management. In this paper we examine the economic magnitude of these health concerns and compare them to other costs of forest fires using the 2001 fire in Chisholm, Alberta, as a case study. We construct an empirical air dispersion model to estimate the concentration of PM arising from the fire. Benefit transfer methods were used to determine the health impacts associated with elevated PM from the fire and to value these impacts. The economic impacts appear to be substantial, second only to timber losses. The approaches used in this case study can be extended to construct a map that identifies the values at risk from health effects. The use of monetary values of these impacts helps in comparison and aggregation of the values at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]