(FORT COLLINS, CO) One of the problems with how America deals with wildfires is thinking there is one primary strategy that can end the nation’s wildfire crisis. Whether that’s detecting and putting out every fire fast, increasing logging and forest thinning, or allowing fires to burn under safe conditions, the default choice today is to pour more money and effort into the star approach of the moment.
But effective wildfire strategy in the face of worsening fire seasons demands a system of actions – interconnected pieces that reinforce one another.
Right now, those pieces mostly are not connected. Research groups, governments and organizations tend to separate into distinct camps, each promoting its own specific strategy. The result is a system that can’t keep up with the rising fire risk…