#130: Burning Questions: Understanding Fire Management with Lenya Quinn-Davidson

From the archive...

It’s summertime, and around the globe record heat is dominating, from Europe to the midwest, and across the oceans as well.

As you know, heat is a key driver to wildfires. In fact, it is one of the three key ingredients, along with fuel and oxygen.

Global oxygen levels, at least within our lifetimes, aren’t going to change much. But heat and fuel can and will change. Obviously, heat is increasing, so one variable is driving more fire potential. And in many areas, fuel is also increasing. Whether it be from invasive species like cheat grass in the high deserts, or excessive understory growth due to both invasive species and decades of fire suppression. 

Sometimes fuel is indirectly created by heat, which causes die-off of many trees and shrubs. And more complex still is the die-off caused by pine beetles, which are actually native. But they can turn destructive when excessive heat weakens tree defenses, and due to the forest service treating so many forests as dense monoculture crops.

I’d like to share this interview with Lenya Quinn-Davidson, discussing fire management. This interview was recorded 2 years ago, but is more relevant than ever. 

Case in point, we’re barely into the traditional fire season and 2026 has already had record breaking wildfires in Nebraska, and Oklahoma and Kansas had a nearly 300,000 acre wildfire in February, along with a 35000 acre fire in Florida.

Wildfire is complex, often misunderstood, and turned into political fodder. So please take a few minutes and enjoy this episode from the archive.

You can find Lenya at LenyaQD on twitter.

FULL SHOW NOTES

Also check out our Episode 109 - Cultural Fire with Margo Robbins, for more great fire information.

Links
California Prescribed Burn Associations
Dixie Fire
Scott Stephens  - wildfire reconstructions from UC Berkeley
UCANR Fire Advisors
WTREX - Women-in-Fire Prescribed Fire Training Exchanges

Thanks to Kat Hill for editing help in this episode.

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Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

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