Ecologists acknowledge that fire is a natural occurrence on many landscapes and in many vegetative systems, but knowing how much and what type of fire is needed for proper ecological function can be a mystery. Looking back at historic fire conditions can provide some help to conservation planners and practitioners, but how do you determine historic fire levels in the face of large scale land conversion, invasive species, fire suppression policies, logging, etc.? The LANDFIRE project provides a simple way to peer into the past and estimate historic fire conditions.