The Importance of Prescribed Burning
Prescribed Fire is the Most Important Tool
This spring, the US Forest Service set a prescribed fire in the Sangre de Cristo mountains in New Mexico. Unexpected winds picked up, the fire escaped containment, and crews could not stop the fire’s spread. Unfortunately, the impacts on the communities were severe as the growing wildfire raged nearby.
The New Mexico wildfires are tragic. At the same time, experts warn that if we don’t ramp up the use of prescribed fire we are setting up our forests and communities for intolerable impacts down the road. We need to figure out how to put more fire on the ground that does not put our towns, people, and forest in harm's way. Simply put, fire is the most important tool to manage fire adapted ecosystems, and we need to use more of it as soon as possible.
What is Prescribed Fire Anyway?
Prescribed fires are also known as controlled burns. This is the practice of intentionally setting fire by an expert team under identified weather conditions to restore fire dependent ecosystems. Native Tribes have used cultural fire for millenia, and while cultural burns and prescribed fire can have similar results, they are not the same thing. Cultural fire is sacred to many Tribes across the planet and used to cultivate specific species and conditions. For more information about Tribal fire in the Klamath Mountains we direct you to the Karuk Tribe Website.
Prescribed fire can have many benefits, including a reduction in subsequent fire severity. Fire severity refers to the effects of a fire on the environment, typically focusing on the loss of vegetation. The use of prescribed fire can reduce fine fuels, brush and small trees. Larger trees are more resistant to fire and forest resilience is increased after prescribed fire. While state and federal agencies as well as private landowners are mechanically thinning and reducing forest vegetation across vast landscapes in the West, these treatments are often ineffective without the application of a prescribed fire.
Short-Sighted Policy Has Long Term Consequences
On May 20, 2022 Forest Service Chief Randy Moore announced a 90-day pause on the use of prescribed fire on National Forests as a result of the escaped New Mexico fire. This constitutes a nation-wide ban while the Forest Service conducts a review of the practice. This is disappointing news to many forest ecologists and fire professionals as it has canceled many planned prescribed fires further increasing the backlog of prescribed fires.
It is important to note that the US Forest Service has a 99.8% success rate when it comes to prescribed fire projects. The prescribed fire program successfully burned nearly 10,000,000 acres between 2007 and 2014, including many areas in the Southeast U.S. where its use is commonplace. Of course, we need to do even better than 99.8% as those fires that get away can do grave damage. We need to make every precaution, but we also need to use this tool at an even greater scale if we are going to make sure that we avoid the worst possible impacts to forests and communities in the coming years.
Prescribed Fire is Essential for Climate Smart and Wildfire Safe Communities
Fire is a dangerous and even deadly tool, and the use of fire should not be taken lightly. It should only be done with well trained professionals after careful planning. Many fire staff are witnessing fire conditions that they have never seen before and climate change is driving hotter, faster spreading fires. We need to adjust to this new normal. Part of what we will need to do is increase rather than decrease our use of prescribed fire.
The Forest Service should come out of its 90-day pause with a renewed commitment to using fire as a tool. As we all prepare for another fire season in the Pacific Northwest, our forests and communities cannot wait another year to re-establish balance in fire dependent forests.