Treating Fire with Fire (and Logging??): A Surprisingly Interesting Scientific Review of Fire Treatments!

Like it or not, fire politics affects every aspect of public forest policy and the rural landscape, and that is not changing anytime soon.

But is science or politics guiding the policy?  Are management decisions being made with forest ecology and community resilience as the top priorities, or are certain actors using fire as a smoke screen to score political wins, enrich wealthy mill owners, and prop up an outdated ideology that wants to turn public forests into tree plantations?  

More relevant to today’s conversation, what is the best available science actually telling us about fire and forest health?  About how, if, when, and why to take an active role in shaping forest landscapes with fire, healthy forest ecology, and fire resilient communities in mind?

I’m joined today by Dr Kimberley Davis from the Forest Service’s Missoula Fire Sciences Lab, and Dr Kerry Metlen, Senior Forest Scientist for The Nature Conservancy in Oregon.  

They are two of the lead co-authors of a meta-analysis published this year examining the effects of thinning, prescribed fire, and wildfire on subsequent wildfire severity in dry type conifer forests of the Western US.

They are an absolute wealth of knowledge and I was so appreciative of their ability to get into the complexities of their research in a way that was engaging and understandable.

Research Links/Show Notes:

• Tamm Review: https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/67659
• Summarized version with graphics: https://www.fs.usda.gov/rm/pubs_journals/rmrs/sycu/2024/sycu_photos_2024_10_treatments.pdf
• Alternative Take on the Paper from Andy Kerr: https://www.andykerr.net/kerr-public-lands-blog/2024/8/30/rethinking-commercial-thinning-as-a-tool-to-ecologically-restore-frequent-fire-forest-types-part-2-burn-baby-burn
• Storymap mentioned by Kerry: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/64f55848f690452da6c58e5a888ff283

Coast Range Radio fire episodes:

• Is the Forest Serviec Falsifying the Scientific Record, w Chad Hanson: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1046044/episodes/13024030
• Taxing Big Timber to Protect Communities from Wildfire: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1046044/episodes/14354418

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