Wildfires in North America: wildly ill-managed disaster

The still raging wildfires in Canada have not only forced hundreds of Canadians to evacuate their homes, but also sent waves of smoke across its border, causing severe air quality issues in many towns and cities in northeastern United States.

People are being advised to put on N95 masks and stay indoors with air purifiers turned on all the time. Sadly, not a Jerry Seinfeld joke, parents have to tell their kids to stop playing outside and get some fresh air in the house. More ironically, among them are some who moved to the east coast in the past couple of years to get away from the wildfires and smoke in the west.

Wildfires in North America hit the headlines every year, with images and video clips of blazing flames engulfing trees and structures in their way. Why are wildfires happening, and happening so frequently?

The Biden Administration, in his White House statement, immediately labeled the burning wildfires in Canada as “another stark reminder of the impacts of climate change.” This also serves as a ready excuse, when needed, for his poor handling of wildfires originating inside the U.S.

Drought and extreme heat may play a role in the occurrence of wildfires on some occasions, but climate change is but a scapegoat and is certainly not the main origin of the spectacle of repeated wildfires in North America.

Wildfires, predominantly caused by human activity rather than natural factors, constitute a significant concern. Supporting this claim, statistics from the U.S. National Interagency Fire Center reveal that over the course of a decade, human-caused fires accounted for a staggering 87% of all wildfires across the nation. Cal Fire, the firefighting agency in California, estimates that 95% of all wildfires in southern California have a human cause.

Wildfires caused by nature, generally by lightning, are rare occurrences. Focusing on the human factor is the real solution to the wildfire problem.

First of all, the administrative leadership needs to obtain the literacy on the science of wildfires. Blaming climate change and pushing a partisan agenda are not helpful in identifying the root causes of wildfires.

Since the primary cause is human activity, governments should devote adequate resources to reduce and eliminate inappropriate human behaviors that lead to wildfires.

Various branches of law enforcement should act together to hold the culprits accountable, not only the sociopathic arsonists, but also those who do not properly attend to open fire burning and debris, who carelessly use fireworks, firearms and explosives, who do not take good care of their electrical wires and transformers, etc.

Anyone who causes a wildfire, intentionally or unintentionally, should be rounded up and duly punished. Regrettably, due to inadequate resources and limited personnel, many offenders evade punishment. This lack of accountability creates a dangerous precedent, potentially leading to even more severe repercussions as individuals begin to believe they can start wildfires without facing consequences.

Secondly, proactive and scientific forest management is essential to the proper handling of wildfires. The outdated fire-phobic suppression approach is dangerous and only leads to more disastrous outcomes.

The Center for Biological Diversity, a left-leaning environmental group, acknowledges that, “The vast majority of western dry forests are at risk of large, high-intensity fire because of the effects of poor forest management over the past century. The primary factors that lead to current forest conditions include logging large trees, fire suppression and livestock grazing.”

Actively initiating prescribed burnings of forests, for instance, is not only conducive to the containment of wildfires, but also good for the environment. Fire ecology research has demonstrated that pyro diversity leads to biodiversity. By incorporating a greater variety of prescribed burnings, forests can support diverse flora and fauna, enriching their ecological composition and overall health.

On the other hand, with some of their fuel taken away by prescribed burnings, wildfires, if started, may no longer be able to spread in a fast and furious way.

As the largest owner and manager of forests in the U.S., the federal government should take the responsibility to improve its forest management practices. Instead of giving away tens of billions of dollars to support wars overseas, the Biden Administration should deploy more resources for its own citizens whose livelihood is constantly threatened by wildfires and smoke.

(The author is an independent financial investor.)