Arizona governor signs $100M wildfire funding plan
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Friday signed a bill rushed through in a special legislative session that provides $100 million in funding this year to battle wildfires, react to the…
Read More...NAU Researchers Find Forest Treatments Have Long-lasting Effects
A group of researchers at Northern Arizona University recently studied the effects of thinning and burning in small areas throughout the state. Their research shows that treatments might last for…
Read More...A West-Wide Rangeland Fuel Assessment: Reading the Tea Leaves
In this monthly recorded series, Dr. Matt Reeves – an RMRS Research Ecologist specializing in remote sensing and ecological modeling – will analyze current rangeland fuel conditions across the west, with…
Read More...Grim western fire season starts much drier than record 2020
As bad as last year’s record-shattering fire season was, the western U.S. starts this year’s in even worse shape. The soil in the West is record dry for this time…
Read More...Wildfires threaten river networks in the western U.S.
A new study conducted by researchers from The University of New Mexico has found that wildfires—which have been increasing in frequency, severity and extent around the globe—are one of the…
Read More...Climate change may be causing an early start to fire season in the West, experts say
Severe drought during the winter is leading to matchbox conditions in the West. Drought conditions from California to Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico have been so bad that officials began…
Read More...Study shows grasslands are more reliable carbon sinks than forests
A study has found that increased drought and wildfire risk make grasslands and rangelands a more reliable carbon sink than trees in 21st century California. As such, the study indicates…
Read More...New funding to curb wildfires pushed in Congress, as another fire season looms
As wildfires across the United States grow in size, intensity and duration each summer, members of Congress from the West are pushing for massive new investments in ecosystem management and wildfire…
Read More...Study: Weather, drought fueled Oregon’s September wildfires
An unprecedented combination of strong easterly winds and low humidity coupled with prolonged drought conditions drove the spread of catastrophic wildfires in Oregon last September, a new study has found.
Read More...‘Forest gardens’ show how Native land stewardship can outdo nature
Patches of forest cleared and tended by Indigenous communities but lost to time still show more food bounty for humans and animals than surrounding forests.
Read More...