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Fire on rangelands is a complex paradox where vegetative biomass is critical as fuel, forage and habitat. This presentation will examine the positive and negative effects of fire on rangeland organisms and patterns with a particular focus on livestock and wildlife. Wildfires can have drastically negative effects that vary with intensity, extent, post-fire moisture availability, death loss, destruction, etc. Conversely, fire can positively enhance forage quality, reduce parasites and disease exposure, reduce physical dermatitis, manipulate animal distribution, reduce woody plant dominance, optimize habitat structure and composition, attract wildlife, etc. Reincorporating fire at appropriate spatial and temporal scales in fire-dependent ecosystems has the potential to allow rangeland managers to capture the positive benefits while potentially mitigating the negative. This can be realized with prescribed fire that varies in seasonality, severity, and scale and allows for optimal animal-plant interactions.