Stanford Study: Prescribed Burns Can Significantly Reduce Wildfire Smoke and Risk

A Stanford University study, published in Science, indicates that annually burning 500,000 acres of California's conifer forests with prescribed fire could decrease hazardous wildfire smoke by approximately 10% over ten years. The research, based on two decades of satellite data, also found that low-severity fires immediately cut the risk of severe wildfires by 92% in the same area. This protection can last for up to a decade.