Fast Wildfires Threaten Western Forest Recovery

A new study of 3,500 wildfires across western North America found that fires spreading more quickly tend to burn more intensely, kill more trees and leave larger areas without surviving trees to reseed forests. Researchers warn that hotter, drier conditions driven by climate change could make many western forests unable to recover, accelerating shifts toward shrublands or other nonforest ecosystems. The risk is especially serious in Colorado and parts of the Southwest, where some recent fires have already left landscapes unlikely to return to dense forests within a human lifetime. Experts recommend using prescribed burns, supporting Indigenous-led fire management and allowing naturally ignited fires to burn under safe conditions, while communities such as Aspen are removing dead vegetation and creating defensible space around homes to reduce future fire intensity and ember spread.