Prescribed Fire

While the use of prescribed fire as a land management tool has increased throughout much of the country over the past several years, its inclusion in conversations surrounding climate change are becoming more common. For years, managers have recognized the role of prescribed fire in promoting desired plant communities to improve wildlife habitat quality, and there is growing evidence that supports the importance of these fire-adapted communities to carbon sequestration and storage efforts.  

​Many, however, are also looking to prescribed fire to help reduce the frequency and intensity of catastrophic wildfires that are becoming more common due to the lack of timber management combined with the additive effects of climate change. Specifically, prescribed fires can be used to reduce fuel levels that, when accumulated in the absence of historically frequent fires, contribute to the spread and intensity of destructive wildfires. While prescribed fires do release carbon, it is important to weigh these smaller releases against wildlife habitat benefits, the increased ability of the resulting plant community to sequester carbon, and the prevention of intense wildfires that devastate fish and wildlife habitat and release significant amounts of carbon.