Wildfires

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.

Over the summer, an executive order from President Trump called for the consolidation of federal wildfire programs “to the maximum degree practicable.” The secretaries of Interior and Agriculture recently released their plans responding to that and other demands – and they’ve garnered praise and criticism.

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.

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.

Parts of California, Oregon and Washington state will experience extreme heat at least through Tuesday, forecasters say.

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.

Project Pinecone will send nearly a quarter million pine seedlings to the Sawtooth National Forest to revive the once-vibrant landscape that was devastated by the Wapiti fire.