Scientists Worry Agency Plan to Prevent Fires Could Do Opposite

Scientists say the Trump administration’s proposed program to cut down trees to gain an upper hand over wildfire and protect the sage-grouse bird may in fact do the opposite: increase the wildfire threat and risk ecosystem “collapse.”

At the same time, the administration says the program is no match against extreme wildfires driven by climate change.

The proposed plan, which the Bureau of Land Management published last week, aims to reshape the ecology of sagebrush ecosystems across 38.5 million acres of federal land in six states to reduce the severity of wildfires and help restore sagebrush. ...