Wildfire is the most important disturbance agent in forests of Western Canada, affecting stand structure and composition, biodiversity, biogeochemical cycling, hydrologic processes, and natural resource extraction. Despite considerable research, consensus on the frequency and severity of historical fire occurrence has been elusive in much of the Canadian Cordillera. Some of this uncertainty derives from epistemological differences between influential researchers in the discipline, but much derives from methodological limitations. One area of parti
