One element of fire risk is forest health, but do you have a good understanding of what a healthy forest really looks like? Maybe not.
On the way to identifying smart ways to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, we all need to get a better grip on what makes a healthy forest.
“In the face of increased threats to our forests – including diseases and insects, droughts, wildfires – we need to increase the resilience and health of our state’s forests.”
The severity of a catastrophic wildfire results from many different factors, one of which can be how much fuel is available for a fire to grow quickly once it ignites. Managing the amount of fuel on the land in ways that benefit overall forest health is something that scientists have spent a great deal time of time studying.
Read about fuel treatments in this fact sheet from the U.S. Department of Agriculture >>
“We want to make more headway on how we fight these fires. We want to make sure we are doing the work in advance — the fuel reduction and modernization that will help us be better prepared for the future.”
