Controlled Burns Have Saved Thousands of Giant Sequoias

A new study published in Nature Communications found that prescribed burns saved an estimated 1,900 giant sequoias from the 2020 Castle Fire and 2021 KNP Complex Fire, with trees treated with prescribed burns roughly four times more likely to survive than untreated ones.

One challenge is that wildfire season is growing longer, narrowing the window for safely applying prescribed burns; a 2022 prescribed burn in New Mexico escaped control and became the largest fire in state history.