How decades of stopping forest fires made them worse

Decades of stopping forest fires have made them worse. Can we undo the damage?

1910’s “Big Blow Up” remains one of the most disastrous wildfires in US history. Hurricane-force winds fanned and threw embers for miles. Full, flaming trees became dangerous projectiles as they were reportedly torn from the ground. After two days, 3 million acres throughout Idaho and Montana had burned. The devastation had a lasting effect on the United States and shaped US forest policy for the next century. But it also created a deep misunderstanding of what fire means to a forest.

A century of fire suppression has reshaped our forests. The floor is littered with material that is dense, dried, and dead. Now, climate change is highlighting why that’s a problem. Increasingly hot, dry weather has resulted in a longer, more dramatic wildfire season, and the forests are ready to ignite. The United States is struggling to keep up with the blazes year after year, so scientists and indigenous people are pushing to bring back a centuries-old practice: burning the forests on our own terms, through prescribed burning.

Note: The headline on this pieace has been updated. Previous headline: "How burning a forest can help save it".

Additional reading:

Our science reporter Umair Irfan explained prescribed burning and how colonists strategically stopped cultural burns in a deliberate attempt to eradicate American Indians:

Prescribed or controlled burning is proven successful again and again, but it’s still not happening enough. As climate change worsens the safety window to conduct these types of burns gets smaller and smaller. More on that and other information on prescribed burns here:

Even having evolved with fire, climate change is changing the game for our forests — it’s getting harder and harder for them to regenerate after massive burns. In 2021, rangers were racing to cover our Sequoia trees with fire-resistant blankets in an attempt to save them:

[Vox]

The image you see at 1:24 of a real, live “Smokey the Bear” was taken in the 1950’s. This bear cub was found badly burned after a New Mexico wildfire. He was picked up and treated for his burns in Santa Fe.

[justinfowler]

We've known this for decades. Yet more and more people move to fire prone areas and still demand all fires be suppressed. Thus the problem continues to get worse.

[slushyrh]

We do this all the time in Australia just before fire season. It really makes a difference and has definitely stopped a couple fires from starting.

[yadisfhaddad]

I love how the 21st century is about learning what indigenous communities knew for thousands of years about ecosystem management and sustainability. Is long overdue, but better late than never.

[peterwhite]

I had a geography professor whose specialty was Pyrogeography, and we learned this exact theory. The fires clear out underbrush and weak trees

[lukelohmann]

Growing up in Australia, "Back Burning" has been done for thousands of years by the Indigenous People of Australia. And is a major strategy of the Australian firefighter forces

[SaltySparrow]

It makes total sense. Firefighters didn't exist 5, 000 years ago and trees still exist. Its a process of death and renewal to reinvigorate.

[terramater]

Awesome video, as always! And "Can we undo the damage" is a really good question!
The current fire season has broken almost every record in terms of frequency and ferocity. During one of our latest film projects, we also realized that not only the increasingly hot, dry weather has resulted in a longer, more dramatic wildfire season, also bad housing development and fire management are severe problems. Change is needed here if we want to prevent upcoming fires.

[Sannidor]

Many plants have life cycles depending on cyclical fires to release their seeds. Makes you think, huh.

[LimeyLassen]

North America was already civilized for thousands of years. The wilderness wasn't wild, it just looked like it to Europeans who didn't understand, because every ecosystem has a unique character and unique challenges.

[peterwhite]

Once again, the Native Americans had the right idea

[ajson]

Sometimes you just gotta let Mother Nature take its course she knows what’s good for herself

[DURRYAN]

Actually the ash of burnt trees can be nutrients for new trees

[Erik_The_Viking]

Here in California we have issues with poor fire management, building homes in areas prone to fires, and of course putting laws in place to prevent clearing out potential fire dangers like dead material, weak trees and other fuel sources. Then we complain about why fires are getting worse.

[crankykransky]

Australia also had this problem in the early days of colonization because they stopped the Aboriginal people from backburning.

[annex]

Fight fire with fire. what a good quote

[sayed]

we should learn more from cultures that learnt important things a long time ago before colonisation changed it all

[screamcheeese]

I'm actually glad that the forest service in my area does prescribed burns twice a year, May to June and October to November. And the people here are actually okay with it. Our town has burned down three times (1860s to 1920s), and so we're more at ease when we know there isn't much fuel for a fire to go through.

[oscarnorth]

This is already Australia’s policy, and it really does work. This helps stop fire, and allows us to cope with it.

[larryjeremiah]

There's some satisfaction in knowing that there are dire consequences in ignoring and criminalising the ancestral knowledge and practices of The Land.