Historical and current fire management practices in two wilderness areas in the southwestern United States: The saguaro wilderness area and the gila-aldo leopold wilderness complex

Fire suppression has been the dominant fire management strategy in the West over the last century. However, managers of the Gila and Aldo Leopold Wilderness Complex in New Mexico and the Saguaro Wilderness Area in Arizona have allowed fire to play a more natural role for decades. This report summarizes the effects of these fire management practices on key resources, and documents common challenges in implementing these practices and lessons for how to address them. By updating historical fire atlases, we show how fire patterns have changed with adoption of new policy and practices.