Megafires Not Increasing: New Research Shows Large High-Severity Fires are Natural in Western Forests

In September 2019, Dr. Dominick DellaSala (Geos Institute) and Chad Hanson (Earth Island Institute) published a peer-reviewed study in the science journal Diversity disputes the widely held belief that “megafires” in our national forests are increasing, preventing forests from re-growing, and that logging is necessary to prevent these wildfires. Read the Press Release

“This is the most extensive study ever conducted on the high-severity fire component of large fires, and our results demonstrate that there is no need for massive forest thinning and salvage logging before or after a forest fire” – Dominick DellaSala

Links to the study

• Abstract: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/11/9/157
• HTML Version: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/11/9/157/htm
• PDF Version: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/11/9/157/pdf
• For more information on the Rim fire, visit https://bit.ly/2kaxpMF.

Press Coverage

• New research confirms ‘megafires’ not increasing: Large, high-severity fires are natural in western U.S. forests (Phys.org, 9/11/2019)
• “Megafires” not increasing: New research shows large high-severity fires are natural in western forests (Sierra Booster, 9/10/2019)

Christina Mills September 11, 2019 Fire Ecology, News & Press Clippings