Dramatic increases in wildfire over the last few decades have garnered considerable media attention, and numerous headlines have claimed that the amount of wildfire in the western U.S. in recent years is unprecedented. However, in a recent Earth’s Future publication, Drs. Brendan Murphy, Larissa Yocom, and Patrick Belmont at the Quinney College of Natural Resources at Utah State University compiled long-term fire datasets that demonstrate the amount of wildfire occurring in the western U.S. remains far below the acreage burning prior to settlement. Specifically, these records show that historically 4 to 12 percent of the entire western U.S. would burn each year. Why does that matter? With the drying of western forests due to climate change, as well as the buildup of excess vegetation in some forests after decades of fire suppression, the authors argue that we need to view wildfire as an inevitable part of the future in the western U.S.

With this perspective, we must then reassess our liabilities and plan development accordingly. While the authors acknowledge the well-documented risk wildfires pose to homes and structures, particularly those built in the wildland-urban interface, they highlight the less appreciated and underestimated risk that uncontrollable, high severity wildfires pose for water security. Further, they suggest that just focusing on the amount of area burning may not be enough to understand and address the issues. Low severity wildfire benefits forest health and poses less risk to water infrastructure, so the authors argue we actually need more areas burning under these conditions. This will require reducing restrictions on prescribed burns and ‘managed’ wildfires. Other forests naturally burn at high severity, and the authors argue that the best approach in these areas is to limit or eliminate development. The authors believe we can and must adopt more widespread and effective management strategies for our forest and water resources, but the critical first step will be realigning public perspectives about the past and future of wildfire.