{"id":33515,"date":"2023-11-06T12:41:47","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T17:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=33515"},"modified":"2023-11-06T13:29:45","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T18:29:45","slug":"cronkite-news-prescribed-burn-projects-protect-federal-forest-lands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2023\/11\/06\/cronkite-news-prescribed-burn-projects-protect-federal-forest-lands\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Prescribed burn projects protect federal forest lands"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Kendrick<\/a>
Ashton Johnson uses his drip torch during a prescribed burn operation in Kaibab National Forest on October 5, 2023. Fire crews planned to burn around 2,300 acres of land that day. Photo by Kevinjonah Paguio \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n
Fighting fire with fire: How prescribed burns protect forests in northern Arizona<\/div>\r\n
Monday, November 6, 2023<\/div>\r\n
By Kate Duffy<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nWILLIAMS — It was just before 8 a.m. on a clear fall day, when trucks carrying fire crews barreled down dirt roads into Kaibab National Forest.

<\/P>\r\nShortly after, the crews began to set over 2,300 acres of the ponderosa pine ecosystem ablaze.

<\/P>\r\nThe Kendrick Prescribed Fire Project was one of the first of many prescribed burns this fall and winter throughout Arizona with the goal of protecting forest lands and surrounding communities from the threat of potential catastrophic wildfires.

<\/P>\r\nThe prescribed burns in Kaibab National Forest are part of the U.S. Forest Service\u2019s 10-year wildfire crisis strategy<\/a>, which aims to combat wildfires in high-risk forest landscapes.

<\/P>\r\nThe strategy began in January 2022 as a response to the growing threat of wildfires in the West over the past 20 years due to climate change, accumulating fuels and development. It emphasizes the restoration of fire-adapted ecosystems, which rely on regular fire exposure to stay healthy.

<\/P>\r\nIn other words, the Forest Service aims to fight fire with fire.

<\/P>\r\nAs part of the Inflation Reduction Act<\/a> passed in 2022, the Forest Service will receive $5 billion over 10 years, including $1.8 billion that will be used to increase forest treatments in 11 new landscapes across Western states. Those treatments include prescribed burns.

<\/P>\r\n