Breaking news, the Earth is getting hotter and wildfires are getting bigger and burning longer, and it feels like there is nothing we can do about it, but there is.
Shocker, I know. This is what we have heard from every major media outlet for the last several years. Every summer, like clockwork. Climate change is only half of the reason for the wildfires we’ve been beholden to as of late.
In the last few decades, wildfires have worsened by every metric imaginable. Acres burned per year, monetary damage done and length of fire seasons to name a few.
The main reasons presented by most major platforms for this occurrence are climate change and global warming. Both of these are correct as they cause massive and frequent wildfires is correct.
Climate change encourages more intense wildfires. The Washington State Department of Ecology showed that even a one degree Celsius temperature increase could increase the median burned area by 600% in some forest types.
Increased temperature, stronger winds and drier conditions are all symptoms of climate change that help to promote fires that burn hotter, last longer and travel further. The powers have not handled climate change well. The damage done may be irreversible.
As I alluded to, there is another reason for these bigger and stronger wildfires: poor forest management.
This is the half of the equation that needs to be talked about more, the solution being actionable and within reach.
For a long time, the United States had a sort of no-tolerance policy for fire. When you are a young and ignorant country that is mostly constructed with wood, that makes sense.
Unfortunately, this policy stuck around longer than it should have.
It took until the 1960s to get a slightly more nuanced policy than the all-out termination of fire with no questions asked.
The problem with this is that fire is natural and necessary. Many ecosystems rely on periodic fires to regulate invasive species, replenish soil nutrients, clear forest floors of debris, underbrush and dead standing trees. Some tree species even require fire for their seeds to germinate.
For a long time, the United States government did not allow these ecosystems to self-regulate.
This allowed invasive and non-native species, that did not evolve to withstand fire, a free pass to take over whole swathes of land. With nothing to regulate them, the native species that relied on fire got outcompeted by non-native species.
Many native species have gone extinct or their numbers dwindled all across the country.
Ecosystems are delicate. Every niche is equally important.
This is the type of disruption over time that renders forests quiet and barren.
Well, one of the types of disruption anyway.
Without the periodic cleansing of natural fires, brush and debris pile up. Think of the fire triangle. There’s always oxygen in the air, we’re increasing the temperature annually and now there is plenty of fuel across forest floors nationwide. That is why wildfires have been so bad.
Prescribed or controlled burns are set purposefully for the function of essentially doing what would have been done naturally. They are planned and managed by professionals and are fairly cheap.
These burns are monumentally beneficial for ecosystems and brilliant for wildfire prevention. I do not know of a better bang-for-buck deal for tax dollars. Everything we do as a people depends, ultimately, on the health of our planet.
The culling of invasive and harmful non-native species with a controlled fire does wonders for natural flora and fauna. Fire is the filter that makes room for native species to thrive. Diversity and competition are encouraged. Imagine a world without monoculture fields of Queen Anne’s lace. In its place, a field of native wildflowers buzzing with pollinators.
These more intense wildfires are signs of an engine on its last legs. Prescribed burns are preventative maintenance, like changing your engine oil.
Vote for the environment. Make noise about this issue. Decide how your tax dollars are spent. Donate to environmental organizations that do prescribed burns. Identify and cull invasive plants with some friends. Buy 25 acres of wild land and commission a controlled burn. Change your oil. Do what you can do.