Prescribed burns (fire pt 1)

Open fire emanates an intense, unexpected warmth. This weekend I ate around a fire twice. Both times, like each time before, my gaze locked on the fluttering light as shimmering heat waves rolled over my body. It's all a chemical reaction, the sensory form of oxygen and carbon and hydrogen atoms interacting, the pure release of energy in physical reality, not really a state of matter or a trappable phase. 

Media outlets are saturated with news of wildfires in the West. While reading this NYT piece, I learned that the southeastern states ("the South") use prescribed burns more than western states even though the wildfire risk is far higher in the West. These controlled fires limit fuel accumulation that, unchecked, help natural fires rage out of control. Research published in 2019 found that 70% of the land burned in the U.S. for this purpose in the last twenty years has been in the South, and this portion is probably underestimated. The author says this practice could be a reason wildfire disasters are fewer in the South compared to the West. 

I was surprised by this. The respective reputation of each region suggests the West would have more effective, scientifically-accurate forest management principles. In the study, the author cites topographical, cultural, climatic, and historic conditions to explain the shortage of prescribed fires in the West. 

The only federal agency to increasingly use prescribed burns is the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a result of greater tribal self-governance. Native Americans used fire to maintain healthy forests across this continent for thousands of years. Scientists have known about fire's importance to ecosystems for at least a decade (I learned about it in 8th grade). Myopic attitudes can be costly.