FIRE CRISIS IN THE WEST

ASSESSING SOURCES & SOLUTIONS

Elisa Fernandes-McDade

Environmental Science and Policy 01 A04

Research Brief #2
November 24, 2015
Word Count: 693
Fire Crisis in the West: Assessing Sources and Solutions

ESP 01 A04
Elisa Fernandes-McDade
11.22.15
Word Count: 693
Research Brief #2

Fire Crisis in the West: Assessing Sources and Solutions

Historical methods of fire management coupled with the effects of climate change caused a

sweep of extreme wildfires across the west in the past decade (Schwartz, 2015). Scientists have

proposed a number of solutions, including thinning, prescribed burning, and zoning reform to

combat them (Bracmort, 2013). But environmental agencies hesitate to change fire management

policy on public lands because of the conflicting need to conserve habitat, minimize management

costs, and prevent damage to private property.

The wildfire crisis has been long in the making. Tree ring analysis (the measurement of

scarring to determine a fire chronology) and historical data show that the frequency and intensity

of wildfires has been increasing since the national parks were established in 1916 (McBride,

1983; NPS, n.d.). Past wildfire management urged complete fire suppression, meaning western

ecosystems accustomed to periodic fires gradually accumulated an unnatural density of trees and

grasses. Though well intentioned at the time, fire suppression practices over the past century

resulted in an abundance of combustible organic material (fuels) which increased the number of

high-severity fires (Schoennagel, 2004).

Among the many barriers to better fire management is climate change, which is creating

a less predictable, more volatile fire season in western states. Between the 1970s and 2010s,

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Fire Crisis in the West: Assessing Sources and Solutions

average temperatures rose by 1.9 degrees and 64% of wildfires within that time period were

caused by uncharacteristically dry conditions due to climate change (Cleetus & Mulik, 2014).

Another barrier is a lack of knowledge of fire regimes across the gradient of western habitat

types (a mosaic of low- to high-severity fire regimes that vary by altitude and dominant plant

species) which makes even fire management at the regional level difficult. Mixed-severity fire

regime forests, which make up of half of Rocky Mountain habitat, is among the least understood

(Schoennagel, 2004). Funding is also growing issue: the Forest Service now devotes 50% of its

budget to firefighting, but warns that, if fires continue increasing in severity and frequency,

they’ll need $1.8 billion by 2025 (USDA, 2015).

A possible solution is prescribed burning, a method whereby fire specialists simulate

natural fire regimes by deliberately igniting fuels. It offers a compromise between the needs of

fire-dependent ecosystems and the obligation to conserve habitat, but comes with a number of

drawbacks. It requires extreme pre-planning, and coordination of staff and machinery; the costs

of application become very high when multiplied over many acres of public land (EPA 1996). A

more limited version of prescribed burning is called thinning, where foresters remove the fuels

from the understory or canopy with the help of machinery. Like prescribed burning, thinning is

expensive, but it can effectively remove undesirable tree species and ladder fuels (organic

material that enables the spread of understory fire into the canopy) to prevent future wildfires in

an area (Bracmort, 2013).

Homes in the wildland-urban interface (an area of human habitation adjacent to

undeveloped land) make up one-third of US households (USDA, 2013). In California alone, 3.8

million households are located on the WUI (USDA, 2013). Because management effectiveness

depends so greatly upon local geography, habitat, and politics, some suggest that local agencies

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Fire Crisis in the West: Assessing Sources and Solutions

should assume greater responsibility. Namely, reforming zoning laws to account for fire-risk

would allow property owners to make wiser decisions about building materials, landscaping, and

fire preparedness (Dombeck et al., 2004). However, this requires interdepartmental and

intercommunity cooperation which too often results in political stalemate. This method found

success in Sauls Creek, Colorado, where residents collaborated with their Fire Prevention

District officials in the creation and execution of a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (Wilson,

2015). Ultimately, the plan was well-received and resulted in invaluable fuel breaks around local

homes because the collaborative process allowed them to tailor their fire control plan to local

needs.

Due to budgetary constraints and conflicts of public interest, certainty is a government

agency prerequisite for the adoption of a new method. Effective wildfire management in the west

is hindered by conflicting demands and compounded by changing climate trends, but there are

potential solutions currently being tested. Prescribed burning and zoning reform are among the

solutions that may be implemented in modern fire management plans to combat the rise of

wildfires across the west.

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Fire Crisis in the West: Assessing Sources and Solutions

References

1. Schwartz, J. (2015, Sep 21). As Fires Grow, a New Landscape Appears in the West. New
York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/22/science/as-fires-grow-
a-new-landscape-appears-in-the-west.html?_r=0.

2. Bracmont, K. (2013, Dec 7). Wildfire Fuels and Fuel Reduction. Congressional Research
Service, 7 7500. Retrieved from https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL30755.pdf.

3. Cleetus, R. & Mulik, K. (2014, Jun). Playing with Fire: How Climate Change and
Development Patterns Are Contributing to the Soaring Costs of Western Wildfires. Union
of Concerned Scientists. Retrieved from
http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/global_warming/playin
g-with-fire-report.pdf.

4. McBride, J.R. (1983). Analysis of Tree Rings and Fire Scars to Establish Fire History.
Tree-Ring History, 43. Retrieved from
http://treeringsociety.org/TRBTRR/TRBvol43_51-67.pdf.

5. National Park Service. (n.d.) Wildland Fire Strategic Plan: 2015-2019 [PDF]. Retrieved
from http://www.nps.gov/fire/wildland-fire/resources/documents/nps-wildland-fire-
strategic-plan-2015-2019.pdf.

6. Schoennagel, T., Veblen, T.T., and Romme, W.H. (2004, Jul). The Interaction of Fire,
Fuels, and Climate across Rocky Mountain Forests. Bioscience, 54(7): 661-676.

7. United States Department of Agriculture. (2015, Aug 4). The Rising Cost of Wildfire
Operations: Effects on the Forest Service’s Non-Fire Work. Retrieved from
http://www.fs.fed.us/sites/default/files/2015-Rising-Cost-Wildfire-Operations.pdf.

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Fire Crisis in the West: Assessing Sources and Solutions

8. Environmental Protection Agency. (1996, Oct). AP-42, CH 13.1: Wildfires and

Prescribed Burning [PDF]. Retrieved from

http://www3.epa.gov/ttn/chief/ap42/ch13/final/c13s01.pdf.
9. United States Department of Agriculture (2013, Jan). Wildfire, Wildlands, and People:
Understanding and Preparing for Wildfire in the Wildland-Urban Interface. Retrieved
from http://www.fs.fed.us/openspace/fote/reports/GTR-299.pdf.

10. Dombeck, M.P., Williams, J.E., & Wood, C.A. (2004, Aug). Wildfire Policy and Public
Lands: Integrating Scientific Understanding with Social Concerns across Landscapes.
Conservation Biology, 18(4): 883-889.

11. Wilson, P. (2015, Mar 12). The Sauls Creek Prescribed Burn: A Community Success
Story. Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network. Retrieved from
http://facnetwork.org/the-sauls-creek-prescribed-burn-a-community-success-story/.