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Prescribed burns need insurance. It's increasingly hard to get

Apr 26, 2023
Why companies that conduct controlled burns are having a harder time finding insurance policies willing to cover them.
Firefighters light a controlled burn during the Mosquito Fire in Foresthill, California.
Eric Thayer/Getty Images

When prescribed burns spiral into devastating wildfires, who pays the price?

Oct 21, 2022
A prescribed burn that went awry in New Mexico has some questioning the value of the practice, but scientists say we need prescribed burns more than ever because of climate change.
A scorched structure and vehicle stand on a property mostly destroyed by the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire on June 2 near Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

The prescribed burn paradox: Climate change makes them harder to contain, and more necessary

Sep 16, 2022
Prescribed fires are supposed to burn excess fuels to help contain wildfires, but the U.S. Forest Service is adding stricter controls in light of a burn that got out of control in New Mexico.
New Mexico fires from the vantage point of Air Force One on June 11, 2022.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Climate change is making prescribed burning trickier in the West

Jun 3, 2022
The controlled burns are supposed to help minimize wildfire hazards, but fires in New Mexico that got out of control have some questioning whether climate change is altering that calculation.
Prescribed burns are used to prevent large fires, but an incident in New Mexico is leading to some reconsideration about the practice.
Terray Sylvester/Getty Images

Prescribed burns can help reduce wildfire threat in the West

Nov 17, 2021
Managed burns take communication between federal officials and locals.
A U.S. Forest Service truck drives along a dirt road in the Albion Mountains in southern Idaho. Prescribed burns in the area can reduce overgrown vegetation that’s crowding out the iconic aspen tree.
Madelyn Beck/Mountain West News Bureau.