Field notes, explainers, and shorter analysis. Same standard of evidence as our reports, without the full apparatus.
Frank Carroll argues NWCG qualification standards and task books, while vital for safety, are constraining wildfire and prescribed-fire workforce capacity — and calls for risk-based recalibration rather than abandonment.
This article revisits Steve Pearce’s request for a post‑fire report after New Mexico’s 2012 Whitewater‑Baldy and Little Bear megafires, outlining Bill Derr’s findings, NWA’s four core principles, and the call to restore the 10 A.M. Policy, end “let burn” strategies, treat fuels, and actively manage
Dr. Bob Zybach and John Marker show that suppression is only a small fraction of wildfire damages, using the Douglas Complex to illustrate cost‑plus‑loss economics and a practical one‑page checklist for quantifying true wildfire impacts.
Jim Petersen explores “wildfire economics,” tracing Bob Zybach’s forest history work, academic debates over old growth, and the full spectrum of pre‑, during‑, and post‑fire costs from suppression to sawmills and biomass.
Royal Burnett explains key concepts in prescribed fire planning, including burn objectives, control lines, fuel models, weather parameters, and the use of BEHAVE‑based tools like the Wildfire Pocket Analyst for safer fire use.
An examination of modern wildfire in America, exploring how institutional incentives, technological ignition, and collapsing distinctions between natural and profane fire are reshaping landscapes and communities.
Wildfire smoke is a silent public health crisis. Learn why the U.S. must shift to aggressive early suppression — and how delayed action is poisoning the air millions of Americans breathe every summer.
A Northern California forestry veteran shares what Congress hasn't seen — communities destroyed by backfires, million-acre burns with no rehab plan, and a Forest Service that no longer serves the people.
Dana Tibbits of the National Wildfire Alliance urges a reset of U.S. wildfire policy, calling for aggressive suppression, science‑based fuel reduction, and protection of communities and forests.
September 2020: the Alaska Incident Team ignited fires on South Fork Mountain despite forecasted winds. Ruth, California burned. Who decided? Who's accountable?
Frank Carroll argues that USFS Potential Operational Delineations, known as POD’s risk becoming preauthorized burn zones. Here's why communities near the wildland-urban interface must demand accountability.
An interview with U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz discussing wildfire impacts, adaptive forest management, and efforts to bridge divisions over forest and wildfire policy in the United States.
A true pioneer and dedicated steward of our forests for over 50 remarkable years.
An analysis comparing wildfire suppression costs with proactive fuel treatments, arguing for increased investment in prevention, landscape resilience, and community wildfire preparedness.
Democratic Sen. Kathleen Taylor and Republican Rep. Court Boice bridge Oregon’s rural–urban divide to tackle catastrophic wildfire risk and protect forests and communities.
“When Controlled Burns Go Bad, The Deadly Lessons of California’s 2020 North Complex Fire”. This article by Dr Bob Zybach and Frank Carrol examines the 2020 North Complex Fire in northern California, exploring how a lightning-sparked wildfire that was initially left unstaffed eventually
Forest Service retiree Phil Aune reflects on forest management, fire policy, planning paralysis, and why he believes the agency must return to accountability, execution, and local decision-making
The National Wildfire Alliance proposes a federal executive order outlining wildfire emergency response, forest management reforms, fuel reduction strategies, and policy changes addressing wildfire risk nationwide.
This article calls for a renewed national response to destructive wildfires, urging stronger forest maintenance, aggressive initial attack, and a clear strategy to protect lives, communities, and natural resources
Part Two of “License to Burn” examines how mismanagement of the 2021 Caldor Fire, unchecked fuels, and post‑fire salvage logging turned a brushfire into a disaster and a business opportunity
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