After another devastating wildfire year in the West, the Biden administration has a plan to ramp up forest thinning and prescribed burns. Two foresters explain why these projects are so important.
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The US has learned that it cannot suppress its way to a healthy relationship with fire in the West. That strategy failed, even before climate change proved it to be no strategy at all.
Restoring western forests – thinning out small trees and dead wood – is an important strategy for reducing the risk of massive wildfires. But these projects aren’t fast, easy or cheap.
Conservation or copper? A proposed mine in northern Minnesota pits industrial jobs against a thriving outdoor economy.
Debating whether climate change or forest management has caused the devastating wildfires in California, Washington and Oregon is a false choice.
Decades of wildfire suppression have allowed flammable fuels to pile up in US forests. Scientists and managers say careful use of planned fires can reduce risks of large, out-of-control burns.
Wildland firefighting has always been a risky job, but development in fire-prone areas is making it more dangerous by putting forest firefighters in situations they are not equipped or trained for.
Climate change, development, past forest management policies and current firefighting practices are creating conditions for large, costly wildfires.
A perfect storm of climate, forestry, development and fire management trends are driving up the costs of fighting wildfires.
Top contributors
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Sr. Associate Vice President for Research and Research Professor, University of Oregon
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W. M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis and History, Pomona College
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Distinguished Professor of Engineering, University of California, Merced
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Assistant Professor of History, University of Oregon
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Professor of History, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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Deputy Director, Center for Environmental Journalism, University of Colorado Boulder
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Associate Professor of Forest and Natural Resource Policy, Colorado State University
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Assistant Research Professor and Director, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon
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University of California, Merced
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Professor of Engineering, University of California, Merced
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Associate Director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and The West, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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Cooperative Extension Forester and Natural Resources Advisor, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
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Cooperative Extension Forester and Natural Resources Advisor, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
