{"id":22093,"date":"2020-09-16T06:57:04","date_gmt":"2020-09-16T06:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=22093"},"modified":"2020-09-17T14:21:35","modified_gmt":"2020-09-17T14:21:35","slug":"climate-change-and-forest-management-have-both-fueled-todays-epic-western-wildfires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/climate-change-and-forest-management-have-both-fueled-todays-epic-western-wildfires\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate change and forest management have both fueled today’s epic Western wildfires"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steven C. Beda<\/a>, University of Oregon<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

What is driving the wildfires that are ravaging California, Oregon and Washington? President Trump and state officials have offered sharply different views.<\/p>\n

Trump asserts that Western states haven\u2019t done enough logging and brush clearance, allowing fuels to build up in forests. \u201cWhen trees fall down after a short period of time, about 18 months, they become very dry<\/a>. They become really like a matchstick \u2026 you know, there\u2019s no more water pouring through and they become very, very \u2014 they just explode,\u201d Trump stated in California on Sept. 14.<\/p>\n

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other West Coast leaders, many of whom are Democrats, point to climate change as the main cause of these massive conflagrations. \u201cThis is a climate damn emergency<\/a>,\u201d Newsom warned as he surveyed damage on Sept. 11 from one of over 20 major wildfires that have scorched the state since mid-August.<\/p>\n

As an environmental historian<\/a> who studies the forests of the Pacific Coast, I don\u2019t see this as an either\/or choice. In my view, climate change and forest management practices both have contributed to today\u2019s fire conditions, and reducing wildfire risks requires addressing both issues.<\/p>\n