Myth: "prescribed burning of forests will get out of control and make things worse"
Most people don't understand that control burns are carefully planned out to mimic smaller fires that naturally occur to prevent insect infestations and overcrowding in forests. Prescribed burning is also done during seasons where fire will NOT pose a threat. I wish for more towns, especially those closer to forests and more vulnerable to the impacts of larger forest fires to be aware of the benefits of control burns. Fires are quantitively different than they once were. The impact of these "super-fires" on forests is devastatingly destroying our forests. But suppressing fires from occurring at all isn't going to help the situation. I propose we educate more people on how control burns help to prevent forest fires from spreading and replenish the health of forests, especially in places that will be impacted the most by larger "super-fires."
Hi Hooria, I was actually so surprised to hear that most people are scared of prescribed fires??? How? I think I was exposed to this knowledge a bit early on and got accustomed to it. But I agree, we must provide people with the necessary education to understand the facts and do what's right for the planet!
You raise an interesting point about towns and people living close to wildfire. If people are living in smoke and under threat of property damage, I wonder what sort of considerations land managers who don't personally face those same threats would have to take into account talking to those communities? For example if you lived in/around Lytton, i can imagine that it'd be very hard to hear that we need more fires.