When conditions allow for it to be done safely, research strongly suggests that land managers should let some fires burn to reduce the risk of catastrophic blazes. But making that decision can be complicated. A new study highlights ways to incentivize that often difficult call.
Putting wildfires out quickly is often the default response from land managers for a number of reasons, including societal expectations, researchers say. Yet decades of aggressive fire suppression - and the overgrowth it leads to - is widely acknowledged as one of the key factors behind today’s wildfire crisis.
Scott Franz, with Northern Arizona University’s Ecological Restoration Institute, said many managers worry about the risks they face when deciding to allow fires to burn.
“What keeps coming up is just the perceived risk, both personally and professionally, for the decision makers who have to put their name on the documents that say ‘we're going to go with something other than full suppression,’” he said. “The risks are often too great compared to the rewards – or lack thereof.”
To figure out what might help shift the calculus of using wildfire to reduce the risk of future blazes and promote ecosystem health, he and his coauthor surveyed fireline professionals.
“Easily the most tightly grouped consensus was around getting the explicit support from leadership,” he said, adding: “Washington-level leadership that comes out and says, ‘we expect you to take necessary risks, done so intelligently, and we’ve got your back if you do so.’”
Franz said it would also be helpful to make it easier for managers to get credit from their agencies toward their land management goals and objectives when they allow wildfires to burn at low- and medium-intensities.
“But at the moment, there is no explicit incentive that focuses on the use of fire to accomplish land management objectives,” he said.
He noted that public land agencies have called for dramatic increases in the number of acres getting regular, lower intensity beneficial fire.
“And you're not just going to get there with thinning and prescribed fire alone,” he said.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
