During a press conference held at the state’s Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Gov. Greg Gianforte said, “With every fire, we must respond with one goal — to put the fire out as quickly and as safely as possible.”[1]
Why do I feel like the Missoulian was reporting on a press conference held just after the fires of 1910? Does the Governor not understand that our forests were born of, and are maintained by, severe fire? Does our governor not know that severe fire disturbance is an essential component of a healthy forest system? It is only through severe fire disturbance that natural plant succession takes place. Can someone please explain to the governor that succession is the natural process responsible for the creation and maintenance of every stage of forest development, from the ecologically unique freshly burned, standing dead forests to the oldest stands that grace our forestlands. Diverse, intact forest systems require periodic doses of severe fire. Rather than encouraging fire managers to extinguish every fire, the governor ought to be encouraging the public to be firesafe so that fire managers can allow natural fires to do their ecological work.
[1] Michels, H. 2024. State says it’s ready for upcoming wildfire season. Missoulian, 13 May.
Fire Ecology 
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