Boosting timber harvesting in national forests while cutting public oversight won’t solve America’s wildfire problem

Firefighters work to get a forest fire near Monroe, Utah, under control on July 24, 2025. Hurricane Valley Fire District via AP

The western United States is facing another destructive wildfire season, with more acres burned in Colorado alone in 2025 than in the past four years combined. If global warming continues on its current trajectory, the amount of forest area burned each year could double or even triple by midcentury.

In other words, more fire is coming, more often.