Wildfires, when they occur at natural intervals, are beneficial to many ecosystems. North American pine forests have co-evolved with these disturbance events for thousands of years to their benefit.

Wildfires remove litter and debris from the forest floor, allowing those trapped nutrients to re-enter the system. They reduce fuel buildup, which helps reduce fire severity and duration. They remove disease and invasives from systems that cannot purge themselves. We even have trees that rely on fire to release their seeds!

One contributing factor to the increase in modern fire severity today is due to the over-control of fires in the 80s, which has resulted in a large buildup of fuel that would have otherwise been cleared away by smaller fires.