In mid July of 2002 a series of lightning strikes ignited a number of small fires in some very remote mountainous areas of SW Oregon. The fires merged into what became known as the Biscuit Fire, the largest fire that year in North America, burning across an area the size of Rhode Island. Sculpted By Fire, a one-hour radio documentary by Barbara Bernstein, takes us on a journey into a landscape that has been shaped by fires like the Biscuit. It explores the role that fire played in creating the forests of the North American West and how Native People set controlled fires to manage the forests where they lived. The program examines the consequences of a century of fire suppression and why it is vital that historic fire regimes be allowed to return to sculpt this landscape again. This story is told against the backdrop of the political firestorm that raged in the wake of the Biscuit fire as forest activists battled timber interests in a struggle to determine the fate of these special areas.

In mid July of 2002 a series of lightning strikes ignited a number of small fires in some very remote mountainous areas of SW Oregon. The fires merged into what became known as the Biscuit Fire, the largest fire that year in North America, burning across an area the size of Rhode Island. Sculpted By Fire, a one-hour radio documentary by Barbara Bernstein, takes us on a journey into a landscape that has been shaped by fires like the Biscuit. It explores the role that fire played in creating the forests of the North American West and how Native People set controlled fires to manage the forests where they lived. The program examines the consequences of a century of fire suppression and why it is vital that historic fire regimes be allowed to return to sculpt this landscape again. This story is told against the backdrop of the political firestorm that raged in the wake of the Biscuit fire as forest activists battled timber interests in a struggle to determine the fate of these special areas.