06/02/2026
Researchers have quantified the economic good of prescribed burning.
A study in the journal Science analyzed U.S. Forest Service data from 285 wildfires that intersected with prescribed burning and other fuel treatments across 11 western states from 2017 to 2023 to measure how much damage was averted due to the treatments.
They found that prescribed burning, along with other forest fuel treatments, avoided the staggering costs of large and severe wildfires. Each dollar invested yielded $3.73 in expected benefits.
https://wildfiretoday.com/save-the-environment-and-the-economy-with-prescribed-burning-researchers-say/