The boreal forest is destroyed by fire, and created by it.
Flames ravage the forest regularly, leaving a landscape of burnt trees and blackened earth.
Fire means renewal in the boreal forest, a central part of the life cycle as ancient as the forest itself. For most of the 20th century, people hoped to eliminate fire from the forest. Distressed by the loss of valuable timber, governments and lumber companies fought every accessible forest fire. Now, the fire-fighter's priorities have become the protection of human life and property and the preservation of the most commercially valuable stands. In areas where the fire is too hard to get at, fire is allowed to take its course.