#fuels reduction

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[thepotentialof2007]

Climate Change is narrowing and shifting prescribed fire windows in the Western United States

"findings strongly suggest that expanded windows of opportunity to use prescribed fire effectively and safely may well emerge at a time of year when such burns have, for the most part, been far less common across the West. One challenge? Winter is when nearly all seasonal wildland fire employees have already been let go for the year, so staffing is an even greater problem at this time of year than during the autumn and spring shoulder seasons. But ultimately, the study authors are relatively optimistic regarding this development—even as most places in the West see decreases in the environmental favorability for prescribed fire during most of the year, modest changes to existing land and fire management priorities (including the retention of more year-round employees) could make it possible to take advantage of these new potential winter burning windows."

. . . .

" Cultural burning is a related practice involving the use of fire by Indigenous peoples that includes some goals overlapping those of prescribed fire (management of natural landscapes in a way that ultimately reduces vegetation density and subsequent fuel loading), but that also holds much broader cultural importance and is practiced using a more holistic knowledge of place to guide the timing and implementation of burning activities. The study discussed in this blog post is focused on prescribed fire as practiced by government agencies and other organizations that follow their standards (e.g., The Nature Conservancy), but the issues explored have relevance to cultural burning as well given the importance of ambient weather and vegetation conditions in both settings."

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from UCLA Climate Scientist Daniel Swain's commentary on the 2023 study he led

doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00993-1

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moon over bonfire

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