New perspective needed on Western wildfire

Nov 5, 2014

New perspective needed on Western wildfire

Nov 5, 2014

Government fire agencies need to take a new look at their long-standing policy of suppressing wildfire, according to UC research that was covered in the New Yorker magazine and other major media outlets today.

“To reduce flood damage, we make floodplain maps. To reduce earthquake damage, we form earthquake commissions. When it comes to fire, we hand everything over to the firefighters," said Max Moritz, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Environmental Science Policy and Management at UC Berkeley. He is the lead author of a review paper about wildfire published today in the journal Nature.

The analysis looked at different kinds of natural fires, what drives them in various ecosystems, the ways public response to fire can differ, and the critical interface zones between built communities and natural landscapes. Moritz and his co-authors conclude that government-sponsored firefighting and land-use policies actually encourage development on hazardous landscapes, amplifying human losses over time.

“We don't just have a forest-fire problem,” Moritz said. “We have a shrubland-fire problem, a grassland-fire problem, and a woodland-fire problem. And the more we rely on fuels reduction to protect us, the more energy we're taking away from measures that could really make a difference.”

For more on the research, see


By Jeannette E. Warnert
Author - Communications Specialist