If California wants to get out in front of its wildfire problem, scientists have some clear but counterintuitive advice: Start more forest fires.
Decades of research shows that lighting fires under safe conditions not only clears out the dead plants and thick underbrush that fuel many severe wildfires, it also restores a natural process that once kept forests healthy and resilient.
It can be tricky to pull off because all fires, whether natural or intentional, are inherently dangerous and smoky. Even so, experts say the benefits far outweigh the risks.
California's overgrown forests came under scrutiny when President Donald Trump blamed them for the state's recent fires and called for more aggressive management.
Experts say the diagnosis was misplaced; the fires in both Paradise and Southern California drew their deadly power from extreme weather conditions exacerbated by climate change, not from the buildup of dense trees and brush.
Nevertheless, scientists and land managers agree on the importance of reducing flammable fuel in California's vast conifer forests. And they say that fire is the best tool for the job.
"We really have to understand that what's really needed on the landscape is more fire, not less," said Kelly Martin, the fire chief of Yosemite National Park.
Some fires will happen no matter what, scientists say. The question is: Do we want fires we can control, or fires we can't?
