SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — Researchers believe active wildfire management practices, like forest thinning, may do more harm than good.
“Many of the things being done in forests will potentially make them more flammable, not less,” said David Lindenmayer, distinguished professor with the Australian National University .
Existing research
Lindenmayer says he, along with a team of researchers , began studying active management strategies shortly after a number of wildfires tore across Australian forests in 2009.
In 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched a new wildfire management strategy . The plan called for the Forest Service to treat 50 million acres of federal, state, tribal, and private lands through prescribed burns and forest thinning. The Biden administration committed nearly $3 billion to the strategy, including hazardous fuel reduction projects.
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According to a statement from a USDA spokesperson, “Current studies and data shows the benefit of fuel treatments positively influencing fire behavior and reduce fire severity.”…