Fighting fire with fire: Controlled burns remain essential as US wildfires intensify

"There's a lot of politics in play," said Matthew Hurteau, a professor at the University of New Mexico, who studies the effects of wildfires and climate change on Southwestern forests.

"After a plane crashes, we don't shut down all air travel for three months," he said. "The worst thing that can happen to our wildfire situation is that it get politicized."

The decision will affect the 193 million acres of land managed by the agency. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore called it a pause, "because of the current extreme wildfire risk conditions in the field."

He acknowledged 99.48% of prescribed burns go as planned and said the forest service will conduct a national review and evaluation of its program during the three-month hiatus.
It's the wrong message at the wrong time, said Lenya Quinn-Davidson, director of the Northern California Prescribed Fire Council.