Our Forest Bill is Due
Fire isn’t always the enemy – sometimes it’s the answer
Evan Burks, Washington Office of Communication
The western U.S. has a debt to pay, one that has been piling up interest for over a hundred years.
“If there’s an accumulation of fuel, it’s due for a fire. It’s a fire debt,” said Danny Whatley, a U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service fire manager who grew up in Gila County, Arizona. “If you don’t pay it this year, it’s due next year. And if you forego, it’s just a bigger debt every year you put it off.”
Western forests want to burn. Decades of federal fire suppression policies aimed at extinguishing all blazes have allowed forests to grow dangerously dense creating conditions for wildfires to get out of control. Many of the estimated 99 million people living near overgrown forests are now coming to accept this wildfire paradox – that more fire is how they make payment and save the place they love.
In Gila County, the mix of desert and forested mountain views means the wildfire risk has risen to some of the highest levels in the country. Residents who seek solitude away from the busyness of the Phoenix Valley witnessed the consequences of massive wildfires, and they understand the stakes.