MWNB

In recent months, concern about the health risks wildland firefighters face has been growing. Now a major conference exploring that issue has started in Colorado.

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.

Wildfire and other emergency response personnel will continue working during the federal government shutdown that began this week, but advocates warn that those workers could still be impacted.

Earlier this year, the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer (NFR) went offline in the wake of massive layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services. But since restarting in May, enrollment has surged by roughly 8,000.

Federal officials would like to quadruple nuclear energy capacity to 400 gigawatts by 2050.

In June, the Trump administration called for a consolidation of federal wildfire agencies “to achieve the most efficient and effective use of wildland fire offices.” Now federal leaders have released plans about how to carry out the order.

The federal government has issued new guidelines to wildland firefighters for the voluntary use of protective masks. The move comes as knowledge of long-term health risks faced by such workers – including cancer – grows.

Partnership advances goal of expanding access to critical news and information in U.S. news deserts

Prescribed burns are widely recognized as an effective wildfire mitigation tool. Now, using satellite imagery, land management records and fire emissions data, a team of researchers has put hard numbers to those impacts.

For millennia, Indigenous peoples have intentionally set fires to care for the land. Colonization and fire exclusion largely put an end to those practices, though the tradition endured. Now, California tribes have opened the door to a new era of cultural burning - a potential model for the rest of the West.