Identification of human ignited fires in the Central Canadian Rockies has become central to the debate about ecosystem diversity maintenance in the Rocky Mountain National Parks. A review of the ethnographic data identifies several indicators of human ignited fires. Examination of environmental data from the Canadian Rockies including pollen cores, vegetation distribution, fire histories, dendrochronological studies, glacier studies and plant succession suggests that human ignition of fires likely occurred frequently in an attempt to enhance certain Montane habitats for preferred species of plants and animals. The current evidence suggests human ignited fires diminished after the 1780s in the Canadian Rockies probably as a result of disease caused human population reductions.