How controlled burns and natural wildfires restore ecosystems, prevent mega-fires, and combat climate change.
Picture this: you’re watching news footage of a raging wildfire, and instead of feeling alarmed, forest scientists are actually celebrating. Sounds backwards, right? But here’s the thing—fire has been nature’s reset button for millions of years, and we’ve been hitting the pause button for way too long.
Those towering pines and sprawling oak groves? They literally evolved to burn. Indigenous peoples knew this secret for thousands of years, using controlled fires to keep forests healthy. Now, as mega-fires ravage the West, we’re finally remembering that sometimes you have to burn it down to save it.
1. Fire actually created the forests we’re trying to protect.
For millions of years, wildfire shaped North America’s landscapes long before humans showed up. Giant sequoias, ponderosa pines, and prairie grasslands all evolved with fire as their partner, not their enemy. These ecosystems developed thick bark, deep roots, and fire-resistant seeds specifically because flames were a regular part of life.
When we suppress every spark, we’re essentially fighting against nature’s original design. It’s like trying to keep a river from flowing—eventually, something’s got to give.
2. Native Americans were the original fire management experts.
Indigenous tribes across North America practiced controlled burning for thousands of years, creating park-like forests that European settlers described as magical. They knew exactly when and where to light fires to clear underbrush, encourage new growth, and prevent catastrophic blazes.
These “cultural burns” weren’t random—they were sophisticated ecological management that kept forests healthy and resilient. When colonization stopped these practices, forests began accumulating the dangerous fuel loads we’re dealing with today.
3. Smokey Bear accidentally made wildfires way worse.
That lovable bear’s “Only YOU can prevent forest fires” campaign worked too well, creating a century of fire suppression that backfired spectacularly. By putting out every small fire, we allowed forests to become overcrowded tinderboxes packed with dead branches and undergrowth.
What used to be low-intensity fires that cleared the forest floor turned into towering infernos that destroy everything in their path. Smokey’s heart was in the right place, but his message created the mega-fires we’re fighting today.
4. Prescribed burns are like vaccines for forests.
Just like vaccines expose your body to a small amount of disease to prevent bigger problems, controlled fires expose forests to low-intensity flames that prevent catastrophic wildfires. Fire managers carefully plan these burns during optimal weather conditions, creating firebreaks and reducing fuel loads before nature does it violently.
These strategic burns move slowly across the forest floor, clearing debris without reaching the canopy where they’d kill mature trees. It’s prevention instead of crisis management.
5. Some trees literally can’t reproduce without fire.
Certain pine species have cones sealed shut with resin that only opens when exposed to intense heat—talk about playing hard to get! Giant sequoias need fire to clear competing vegetation and create the mineral-rich soil their seedlings require.
Jack pines and lodgepole pines have evolved similar strategies, essentially holding their seeds hostage until flames trigger reproduction. Without periodic fires, these species slowly disappear from forests, replaced by fire-intolerant species that create denser, more dangerous conditions.
6. Fire prevents the really scary mega-fires that make headlines.
Those apocalyptic wildfires that destroy entire towns? They’re largely a result of decades without smaller, natural fires. When forests go too long without burning, they accumulate massive amounts of dead wood, dry leaves, and dense undergrowth.
This creates conditions where fires burn so hot they sterilize the soil and kill everything, including fire-adapted trees. Regular, low-intensity fires consume this fuel gradually, keeping forests from becoming explosive tinderboxes.
7. Burned forests become carbon storage powerhouses.
Here’s where it gets counterintuitive—letting forests burn can actually help fight climate change. While fires do release carbon initially, the regrowth that follows often stores more carbon than the original forest.
Young, vigorously growing trees absorb CO2 faster than old-growth forests, and fire creates diverse habitats that support different carbon-storing plants. Plus, preventing small fires just delays the inevitable release of carbon through catastrophic wildfires that are far more destructive.
8. Wildlife actually depends on fire to survive and thrive.
Many animals have evolved alongside fire and depend on post-burn habitats for food and shelter. Woodpeckers feast on beetle-infested trees after fires, while deer and elk prefer the tender new growth in burned areas.
Some bird species, like the black-backed woodpecker, are so specialized they only nest in recently burned forests. Fire creates a mosaic of different habitat types—from open meadows to dense thickets—that supports much more biodiversity than uniform, unburned forests.
9. Portugal and Australia prove that fighting fire with fire works.
Countries that embrace prescribed burning have dramatically reduced their wildfire destruction. Portugal cut its burned area by 60% after implementing aggressive controlled burning programs following devastating 2017 wildfires.
Australia’s Aboriginal communities have returned to traditional fire management, reducing both wildfire intensity and greenhouse gas emissions. These success stories show that working with fire, rather than against it, creates landscapes that are both safer for humans and healthier for ecosystems.
10. Climate change makes strategic burning more important than ever.
Rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns are creating longer fire seasons and more extreme weather conditions. This makes the old approach of total fire suppression not just ineffective, but dangerous.
Strategic prescribed burns become even more crucial as a tool for creating fire-resilient landscapes that can withstand climate extremes. By reducing fuel loads and creating natural firebreaks, controlled burning helps forests adapt to our changing climate rather than simply burning up in it.