photo of person starting a prescribed fire burn

Communities are embracing controlled burns

Communities are embracing ‘controlled burns’ to protect themselves

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Communities are embracing ‘controlled burns’ to protect themselves


The past few years have led to record wildfires across the U.S. Decades of suppressing fires has led to overgrown forests, and a warming climate has increased their intensity and frequency. Christopher Booker reports from California on community-led efforts to preemptively set controlled fires, reducing the risk from large out-of-control fires while also restoring the ecological health of the forest.

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photo of prescribed fire burning through forest floor

Can Prescribed Fires Mitigate Health Harm?

photo of prescribed fire burning through forest floor

Can Prescribed Fires Mitigate Health Harm?


A Review of Air Quality & Public Health Implications of Wildfire & Prescribed Fire

Fire is critical to maintaining the health, resiliency, and diversity of habitats and ecosystems. Indigenous peoples of North America have used cultural fires for millennia to enhance biodiversity and other ecosystem benefits, as well as for ceremonial activities. Following Euro-American colonization, practices and policies shifted to promote fire exclusion, contributing to increased fuel loading and increased wildfire risk.

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photo of burning forest from above

Prescribed Burns Helped Curb the Caldor Fire

These maps show where prescribed burns helped curb the Caldor Fire’s rapid growth

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Prescribed Burns Helped Curb the Caldor Fire


September 20, 2021 – The Caldor Fire defied expectations, climbing up mountains and crossing highways, destroying more than 1,000 structures in the process. South Lake Tahoe narrowly avoided the fire’s wrath, which fire experts say was largely thanks to fire prevention activities, including prescribed burns. The following maps show how prescribed burns and other methods of removing vegetation to reduce the risk of hotter, larger fires — known as “fuel treatments” — slowed or curbed Caldor’s growth.

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photo of burning forest

Tahoe Fuel Breaks

Tahoe Fuel Breaks


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Photo of CAL FIRE worker

Meet the People Burning California to Save It

Meet the People Burning California to Save It

July 29, 2021 – Frequent, low-intensity fires known as prescribed burns are one of the best ways to stop wildfires. So why isn’t California lighting more of them?

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Woman standing in front of forest seed bank

CAL FIRE Reforestation Center in Davis Helps Wildfire-Prone Areas Recover

Woman standing in front of forest seed bank

CAL FIRE Reforestation Center in Davis helps wildfire-prone areas recover


L.A. Moran Reforestation Center has spent 100 years sowing seeds

May 29, 2021 – What happens after California’s massive wildfires are extinguished?

Rebuilding, in many ways, begins.

For the past 100 years, Cal Fire has been doing its part by assisting in reforestation efforts across the state.

The hub for these efforts is located on a 60-acre site along Chiles Road in Davis. The L.A. Moran Reforestation Center was established in 1921 to embrace Cal Fire’s ongoing mission to protect the people and resources of California, according to the Cal Fire website. The Reforestation Center has produced millions of tree seedlings for the state’s reforestation efforts.

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photo of Lark Creek fire

Fuel Break Creek Fire

Fuel Break Creek Fire


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Photo of forest being cleared

Shasta HELO Program


Shasta HELO Program

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photo collage of prescribed burns

Prescribed Fire in California. The State of California. One Tree Planted.


Prescribed Fire in California. The State of California. One Tree Planted.

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Photo of properly trimmed tree in forest

Procuring Plant Materials


Procuring Plant Materials: Conifer Cone Surveys 

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