controlled burns News

Washington State’s Fire Season Lightest in a Decade

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington state this year has had the fewest square miles burned in a decade following the second- and third-worst fire seasons on record in 2020 and 2021. State Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz announced Friday that …

California Virus War Slams Into Its Other Crisis: Wildfires

A crisis California didn’t foresee — the Covid-19 pandemic — is complicating preparations for one that arrives with a vengeance every year. With wildfire season on the horizon, state officials have ordered prevention efforts to proceed after rains have tapered …

There’s a 60,000-Year-Old Way to Help Stop Australia Burning

Australia’s indigenous people say the bushfire-ravaged country is paying the price for ignoring their expertise in managing the ecology of the world’s-driest inhabited continent. The fires have already burned more than 6 million acres — an area the size of …

University Study Backs More Controlled Burns in West for Managing Wildfire Risks

Land management agencies are underutilizing controlled burns to reduce wildfire threats in the western U.S., according to a wildfire study. The University of Idaho study indicates the use of the intentionally set fires has decreased over the last two decades …

Controlled Burns Seen as the Lesser of Two Evils

About 30 members of the crew stood in the morning still of the Oregon forest as Katie Sauerbrey laid out the plans for the day. Some carried shovels or pickaxes. Others leaned against trucks and peered at maps of the …

New Jersey Eyes Controlled Burns to Fight Forest Fires

New Jersey is on the verge of approving more controlled burns of underbrush on forest floors. The goal is to prevent major forest fires and help ecosystems that depend on fire as part of the natural cycle. Lawmakers passed a …

New Jersey Using ‘Controlled Burns’ to Help Deter Fires

Where there’s smoke there’s fire. But where there’s fire, there’s not always a forest fire. New Jersey environmental authorities are conducting so-called controlled burns in wooded areas around the state. The small, deliberately set and closely monitored fires are designed …