This interview originally aired Apr. 6, 2020.
COVID-19 is taking most of our attention now, but in the midst of it all, another crisis is on the horizon: it’s almost wildfire season in Idaho.
Cheatgrass is a pesky invasive weed that thrives in the soil after a wildfire. It’s also extremely flammable, causing a dangerous cycle. Cheatgrass has been studied here and there across the country, but it wasn’t until a recent Boise State University research project compiled all the data that scientists really started to understand the impact of cheatgrass on wildfire patterns.
Matt Williamson is an assistant professor of Human Environmental Systems at Boise State and was a key part of this project. He joins Idaho Matters today to talk about what we can learn from this new data.
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