How decades of stopping forest fires made them worse

Decades of stopping forest fires have made them worse. Can we undo the damage?

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1910’s “Big Blow Up” remains one of the most disastrous wildfires in US history. Hurricane-force winds fanned and threw embers for miles. Full, flaming trees became dangerous projectiles as they were reportedly torn from the ground. After two days, 3 million acres throughout Idaho and Montana had burned. The devastation had a lasting effect on the United States and shaped US forest policy for the next century. But it also created a deep misunderstanding of what fire means to a forest.

A century of fire suppression has reshaped our forests. The floor is littered with material that is dense, dried, and dead. Now, climate change is highlighting why that’s a problem. Increasingly hot, dry weather has resulted in a longer, more dramatic wildfire season, and the forests are ready to ignite. The United States is struggling to keep up with the blazes year after year, so scientists and indigenous people are pushing to bring back a centuries-old practice: burning the forests on our own terms, through prescribed burning.

This is the third video in our climate change coverage this week and the next. You can watch the first video on extreme heat ? and what cities are doing to cool down here: https://youtu.be/ZQ6fSHr5TJg

And the second video on high-voltage transmission lines ⚡️ and why the US isn't ready for clean energy here: https://youtu.be/s3ScJ_FwaZk

Note: The headline on this pieace has been updated. Previous headline: "How burning a forest can help save it".

Additional reading:

You can check out Crystal Kolden’s website and her research here: http://www.pyrogeographer.com/

For more information on Elizabeth Azzuz and the Yurok tribe: https://www.hcn.org/articles/south-wildfire-the-fire-we-need
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/good-fire-bad-fire-indigenous-practice-may-key-preventing-wildfires

Our science reporter Umair Irfan explained prescribed burning and how colonists strategically stopped cultural burns in a deliberate attempt to eradicate American Indians:
https://www.vox.com/21507802/wildfire-2020-california-indigenous-native-american-indian-controlled-burn-fire

Prescribed or controlled burning is proven successful again and again, but it’s still not happening enough. As climate change worsens the safety window to conduct these types of burns gets smaller and smaller. More on that and other information on prescribed burns here:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/12/the-fire-moved-around-it-success-story-in-oregon-fuels-calls-for-prescribed-burns

https://acconsensus.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/07-Miller-et-al-2020-Barriers-and-enablers-for-prescribed-burns-for-wildfire-management-in-California.pdf

https://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr158/psw_gtr158_02_pierpont_nehoda_williams.pdf

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/10/prescribed-burns-are-failing/616889/

Even having evolved with fire, climate change is changing the game for our forests — it’s getting harder and harder for them to regenerate after massive burns. In 2021, rangers were racing to cover our Sequoia trees with fire-resistant blankets in an attempt to save them:
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/17/1037914390/giant-sequoia-national-park-wildfire-climate-change

https://www.hcn.org/articles/climate-desk-wildfire-burn-out-frequent-fires-are-changing-western-landscapes

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