Poor forest management fuels catastrophic wildfires

As I look out into a hazy, smoke-filled Iowa summer day, I read some are blaming the Canadian wildfires on man made climate change. If man is changing the climate, then man needs to adapt and mitigate the effects while working to undo his mistakes.

The smoky haze that has blown down from Canada represents a failure to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change. Insufficient forest management represents a failure to adapt and deserves significant blame. And unlike climate change, which will take decades to reverse, forest management can be fixed immediately.

Living trees burn more slowly than dead ones. Slower-moving fires are easier to contain. The U.S. needs to aggressively clear our forests (all million square miles of them) of the dead wood that fuels out-of-control fires. Canada needs to do likewise on its side of the border, and if they won’t, the U.S. needs to go up and do it for them.

David Sheets

Marion