Research shows that prescribed fire, other fuels treatments net major savings
It’s well-established that prescribed fire and other fuel-reduction treatments can create significant ecological benefits and reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire.
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“For every dollar that the Forest Service spends, we find that the public saves $3.75 in property loss, smoke and health impacts from wildfire smoke and carbon emissions,” said Frederik Strabo, lead author on both of the papers.
The other study found that between $5 and $6 in suppression costs are saved with every $1 spent on fuel mitigation. A summary of both papers’ findings can be found here.
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“And that was because they not only were more effective at reducing fire spread and severity, but they were also more likely to interact with a wildfire across [their] effective lifetime,” Strabo explained.
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