Speaker: Susan Prichard, UW SEFS Research Scientist
Title: “Common questions about adaptive forest management”
Via Zoom: https://washington.zoom.us/j/92707468214 and In-Person in the Forest Club Room in Anderson Hall

Description: Through years of rapid climate change and record-setting wildfires, many of us understand the key ingredients to big fire years –  drought, tinder dry fuels, lightning ignitions and escaped human-started fires followed by strong wind events. However, what we can do about the worsening wildfire problem remains hotly debated in both the popular media and scientific literature. Some of the main sources of uncertainty are captured by the following questions: Are changing fire regimes mostly due to climate change, or does a legacy of fire exclusion also drive western wildfires? Does the vulnerability of western forests to wildfires and climate change warrant rapid, large-scale management action? Or should we leave forests as they are and continue to suppress as many fires as we can? These topics have been well studied in the scientific literature, and there is strong scientific evidence for why and how to adapt western forests to climate change and future wildfires. In this seminar, I will review some common questions about climate change adaptation strategies in fire-prone forests and the status of science that can guide proactive management.

Every quarter, the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences holds weekly SEFS Seminars with faculty and experts. These seminars provide a space for presentation and discussion of a variety of topics relevant to the school and its students. Each seminar is held at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesdays via both in-person presentation in the Forest Club Room and on Zoom. After each presentation, a Q&A discussion will be held. You can watch previous Seminars on the SEFS YouTube channel.