Reconstructions of dry western US forests in the late 19th century in A rizona, C olorado and O regon based on G eneral L and O ffice records were used by W illiams & B aker (2012; G lobal E cology and B iogeography , 21 , 1042–1052; hereafter W & B ) to infer past fire regimes with substantial moderate and high‐severity burning. The authors concluded that present‐day large, high‐severity fires are not distinguishable from his...