For the past couple of years, climate news has been dominated by the California Wildfires. This January, The Palisades Fire, The Easton Fire, and The Hughs Fire blazed through Los Angeles and added three more names to the long list of devastating wildfires on the west coast. Ever since the 1980’s, annual wildfires in California have increased dramatically. But why are these wildfires so bad? The reason lies in the century-old practice of fire suppression.
Beginning in the early 1900s, the U.S. government started to pass wilderness fire safety laws. Some of these laws included the 10 am policy, which required all campfires to be suppressed by 10 am. Other laws formed stronger wilderness firefighting efforts. In 1944, Smokey the Bear, a cartoon bear known for his “Only YOU can prevent wildfires” catchphrase, made his way into mainstream culture to promote fire prevention. Fire was perceived negatively, as something that was dangerous and needed to be extinguished immediately.
Fire suppression is the practice of preventing and stopping forest and wildfires as soon as they arise through the methods of using substances like water or chemicals to put out fires. However, by suppressing these fires, the forests become more susceptible to burning in the future. Without natural forest fires to burn them away, dead leaves and sticks accumulate on the forest floor, giving larger fires more kindling.
In the 1960’s, the attitude towards fire safety began to change. Research emerged informing the public that a healthy amount of fire can be beneficial to forests, and can even prevent future disasters from happening. Controlled burning or prescribed fires are used to manage overgrown or thickly wooded areas. The area is outlined prior to the burn, and fire barriers like trenches or removed vegetation are established. Weather-permitting, wind can be too conducive to a fire, causing a controlled burn to get out of hand, a crew arrives at a scene, and carefully ignites the area. Controlled burns are monitored and contained for anywhere from one hour for smaller areas to three hours for larger burns.
However, just as this research was gaining traction, the 1988 Yellowstone fires arose, causing the public to revert their attention back to the generalized need for fire suppression.
But the 1960’s researchers weren’t the first people to discover the benefits of controlled burning. There is evidence to show that, before American settlers expanded west, Native Americans used tactics similar to what we now refer to as controlled burning to keep forests healthy. Native Americans used fire to improve habitats for humans and animals for years. Tribes across the continental US used controlled burning to remove dead overgrowth and help agricultural production and new vegetation.
However, fire suppression remains the top strategy used to prevent fires nationwide, but the side effects of fire suppression have caused many of the issues we see today. Overly dry forests, increased undergrowth, and reduced biodiversity all cause these big fires to happen, like the ones we see in California today.
The culture around forest fires is dominated by fear, and the positive effects of controlled burning are rarely recognized. As of now, the Trump Administration issued expansive budget cuts to the forest service, stopping a majority of firefighting efforts, new and old.
Image Source: US Forestry Service