Let It Burn: The Forest Service Wants to Stop Putting Out Some Fires

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Forest managers lost control of the 2012 Reading Fire in Lassen County. Photo courtesy of Lassen National Park Service

By Lauren Sommer, KQED News/KQED Science

California’s fire season hasn’t turned out to be as bad as some feared this year. In fact, forest managers say that certain kinds of fires — the “good” fires — were sorely lacking.

Sierra Nevada forests are adapted to low-intensity fires that clear the underbrush and prevent trees from getting too dense. After a century of fire suppression, many forests are overgrown, which can make catastrophic fires worse.

So forest managers are piloting a new policy designed to shift a century-old mentality about fire in the West.

Read the complete story at KQED News/KQED Science.
 

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