Warming and drying conditions are driving increases in wildfire size and annual area burned across the forests of British Columbia, Canada. The impact of increasing fire activity on these forests remains unclear as examination of concurrent changes to fire severity is lacking.
Background. Wildfire smoke events are increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate change. Children are especially vulnerable to health effects even at moderate smoke levels. However, it is unclear how parents respond to Air Quality Indices (AQIs) frequently used by agencies to communicate air pollution health risks. Methods.
The social diversity of human populations living in or near wildfire-prone lands are an important influence on the scale at which wildfire mitigation action can occur among residential populations at increasing risk from wildfire.
Annual wildfire area in California has rapidly grown in recent decades, with increasingly negative impacts on people. The fire season is also lengthening, with an earlier onset. This trend has been hypothesized to be driven by anthropogenic warming, but it has yet to be quantitatively attributed to climate drivers.
In recent years, smoke from wildland fire has increased in duration and frequency and is a recognized public health risk. This has driven a corresponding need for more information on these topics and an increase in systematic reviews seeking to better understand the state of science and identify ongoing knowledge gaps. The goal of this document is to summarize recent review articles that synthesize the state of wildland fire smoke communication research. We provide a summary of primary themes and then list key findings by article. Please note that each review article encompasses multiple studies, and here we focus on the themes shared across the articles. The review articles and the studies they cover offer abundant additional information, nuance, and detail for those seeking a deeper understanding of the available research.
This report synthesizes peer-reviewed literature of public opinion regarding prescribed fire and associated smoke, with a focus on the Pacific Northwest. This body of literature finds widespread public support for prescribed fire on federal and state-managed lands, while also identifying concerns about smoke impacts, escaped fire, and recreational disruptions. The literature identifies the importance of effective communication strategies to improve public understanding and acceptance of prescribed fire, including educational campaigns, leveraging trusted local messengers, and providing actionable solutions for reducing smoke exposure. The reviewed literature further suggests that public health messaging should be integrated into prescribed fire communication efforts efforts in ways that are responsive to local populations’ awareness and attitudes, to best ensure communities are well-prepared and informed about both the benefits and risks of prescribed fire.
Smoke from the Los Angeles (LA) wildfires that started on January 7, 2025 caused severe air quality impacts across the region. Government agencies released guidance on assessing personal risk, pointing to publicly available data platforms that present information from monitoring networks and smoke plume outlines.
Wildfires in the western US increasingly threaten infrastructure, air quality, and public health. Prescribed (“Rx”) fire is often proposed to mitigate future wildfires, but treatments remain limited, and few studies quantify their effectiveness on recent major wildfires.
The IUFRO 3.08.00 Small Scale Forestry Research Group and 9.01.03 Extension and Knowledge Exchange Working Group will have a joint conference in September 2025. The objective of this conference is to bring together researchers and other professionals to exchange knowledge related to small-scale forestry, forestry extension, and related fields.