TAKEAWAY
To reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, we need more active management, including more beneficial fire on the ground.
Opting for fire during moderate conditions is a much better choice than unstoppable fire during dangerous conditions.
Utah, like much of the West, is a flammable landscape. Fires have always burned in this region, and fire historically played an important role in maintaining healthy ecosystems. However, today, wildfire is often not a welcome occurrence in watersheds, on grazing allotments, or near communities. The central challenge fire managers face is in balancing the use and promotion of beneficial fire while avoiding the devastating impacts of unplanned fires in places they do not want and in ways they cannot control.
Despite the high summer temperatures, Utah saw very little fire activity in 2022, with 25,549 acres burned. Prescribed fire acreage was also low, partially because prescribed fires were not permitted on land managed by the U.S. Forest Service in the summer of 2022. The inability of Forest Service managers to use prescribed fire as a tool hampered fuel reduction efforts across the country, even in regions where local conditions were ideal for safe and effective burning.
Utahns can increase wildfire readiness by fire-hardening their homes, following firewise principles on their properties and in their communities, and supporting state and federal efforts to actively manage forests to reduce fire risk on public lands. Active management may include mechanical treatments, pile burns, or prescribed burns. Compared to wildfire, these treatments pose less risk to firefighters, produce less smoke, and are less likely to affect private property. While we cannot eliminate fire, opting for active management, including fire during moderate conditions, is a much better choice than the alternative, which is unstoppable fire during dangerous conditions.