wildfires

Both in the United States and around the world, fire seasons in 2025 were relatively light. Yet the loss of lives and property hit historic highs, raising questions about whether acres burned is the best metric to assess devastation caused by wildfires, according to a recent analysis.

The Roadless Rule has been in place for decades. Lawmakers are divided.

Wildfire smoke is associated with a growing list of health impacts. New research now ties it to reproductive harm in bulls – a finding with implications for humans.

Researchers looked at more than 750,000 wildfires in the West between 1992 and 2020. In the second half of that period, the number of reported wildfires were down by 31%, but acreage burned was up 40%.

Longer wildfire seasons can blanket communities in smoke. Summer heat records continue to rise. Drought remains a persistent concern for water supplies, agriculture and ecosystems.

Federal layoffs dovetail with a low-snowpack year to make for tenuous firefighting teams, say ex officials.

The purplish weed sucks up nutrients before native plants have a chance, fills in needed gaps between sagebrush and leaves crispy dry fuel on the landscape all summer long.

New technology intersects with traditional grazing in a double-win for wildfire mitigation and conservation.

The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) released its monthly wildfire potential outlook. In June and July, parts of Northeast Wyoming could receive large wildfires that later shift into the southwest.

Wildfire risk is rising across the West after a dry winter and ongoing drought left vegetation more vulnerable to fire. Now, researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno are putting about $3.5 million in federal funding to work on a project aimed at reducing that risk in the eastern Sierra Nevada.