Firefighting strategies may be contributing to larger wildfires

Globe and Mail

Lori Daniels studies forest fires in deep time, looking hundreds of years into the past. But on Tuesday, the University of British Columbia ecologist was concerned about something more immediate, as smoke billowed over the province in what is turning into a record-setting year for wildfires across much of Western Canada. …Her research is part of a growing body of evidence that supports a call for a different way of managing our forests – one that puts greater emphasis on reducing the fire hazard and less importance on the economic value of logging. Buried in the rings of trees, Prof. Daniels has found a forest fire record that stretches beyond the historic data, which only goes back about a century.

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