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The Conversation
The Conversation
Tony Cheng, Professor of Forest and Natural Resource Policy, Colorado State University

Wildfire strategy doesn’t need a winner – with 3 camps fighting for dominance, the system can’t keep up with the risk

A firefighter monitors a backfire in California, set to clear away dry vegetation that could fuel wildfires. Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

One of the problems with how America deals with wildfires is thinking there is one primary strategy that can end the nation’s wildfire crisis. Whether that’s detecting and putting out every fire fast, increasing logging and forest thinning, or allowing fires to burn under safe conditions, the default choice today is to pour more money and effort into the star approach of the moment.

But effective wildfire strategy in the face of worsening fire seasons demands a system of actions – interconnected pieces that reinforce one another.

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