Why The Forest Must Burn
“After 15 years of massive and severe blazes that have blackened landscape and choked the community with smoke for weeks at a time, severely disrupting people’s lives and the local [...]
Susan J. Prichard, a research scientist with the University of Washington and the Pacific Fire Sciences Wildland Laboratory has compiled a concise review of how wildfire has evolved in the Pacific Northwest and much of what is reported holds true for us in Central Oregon. Read the full article on The Conversation.
“After decades of fire exclusion, dense and dry forests with heavy accumulations of fuel and understory vegetation often need to be treated with a combination of thinning and prescribed burning. Restoring landscape patterns will take time and careful management to mitigate how future wildfires burn across landscapes.”
