Annual area burned (AAB) variability in northwestern North America was inferred from 38 treering width chronologies widely distributed across boreal regions and spanning the past 300 years and the minimum 1833–1998 interval. AAB estimates accounted for up to 61% of the variance in AAB observed from 1959
to 1998, and were verified using a split sample calibration-verification scheme. Spatial correlation maps of gridded temperature and precipitation data provided an indication of the reliability of the reconstruction to approximate fire-conducive climate variability beyond the period of calibration.
