How decades of stopping forest fires made them worse

[@Vox]

The image you see at 1:24 of a real, live “Smokey the Bear” was taken in the 1950’s. This bear cub was found badly burned after a New Mexico wildfire. He was picked up and treated for his burns in Santa Fe. He was later transported to the National Zoo in Washington, DC, where he lived out his life as a living symbol of Smokey the Bear. He received so many letters that he was even given his own zip code. You can read more about it here: smokeybear.com/en/smokeys-history/story-of-smokey -Kim

[@pz-sc6201]

That’s beary wholesome.

[@realtalk5329]

Did you know that your memory of "smokey THE bear" is from a parallel universe that i too also have a memory of? In this universe its always been "SMOKEY BEAR"

[@novan998]

@@maxd161990 Yoo rsgggdfsdstatsx

[@Dumptheclutchevo]

@@realtalk5329 Mandela Effect

[@laurabowles]

I'm very glad to read this, because my first thought when I saw the photo was, "Oh no, they captured a baby bear and used it for animal tourism."

[@justinfowler2857]

We've known this for decades. Yet more and more people move to fire prone areas and still demand all fires be suppressed. Thus the problem continues to get worse.

[@jjbarajas5341]

The fiery version of building in flood plains and being surprised when your home is flooded.

[@ninjamusic9554]

The Indigenuous people have known that for centuries

[@Ghesh_Vargiet]

@@ninjamusic9554 they knew everything about the land they were on and we ignored and killed them

[@benkoskinen3871]

America is the best example of "we know about the problem for decades, and we are going to do exactly nothing about it"

[@stonep11]

@@jjbarajas5341 New Orleans in a nutshell

[@slushyrh]

We do this all the time in Australia just before fire season. It really makes a difference and has definitely stopped a couple fires from starting.

[@NeonMirah]

Was just about to say this. We do back burning all of the time in Australia

[@jeffreycater5447]

@@Moo-fb2kb ok

[@fgsaramago]

That's the lazy way out. Very damaging to the environment and wildlife. How about putting serious resources into raking/cleaning as it's done in developed countries?

[@jeffreycater5447]

@@fgsaramago did you not take in any information from the video... this is how most places that are developed do it... I’m not American and we do control burns

[@santaclaws1501]

@@fgsaramago do you know how large australia is? It isn't feasible to have people rake an area half the size of Europe each year. Besides, the forests in australia are meant to be burned. Many eucalyptus trees need fire to reproduce. The indigenous people of australia have also done this for thousands of years, and even some birds here intentionally spread it.

[@peterwhite034]

I had a geography professor whose specialty was Pyrogeography, and we learned this exact theory. The fires clear out underbrush and weak trees

[@MoonLiteNite]

but great scientist of cali are just learning of this :') I learned this 30 years as a kid, i can't believe they are just figuring this out in cali...

[@fgsaramago]

As opposed to having people go there and clean it as it's done in developed countries. It's the lazy way out

[@Honeybadger_525]

@@MoonLiteNite Scientists have understood the importance of fires in the ecology of the Sierra Nevada for decades, now. The issue is that our government (both state and federal) have largely ignored the science and the problem for just as long and have not provided adequate resources to the responsible agencies to properly manage our forests nor have they removed policy barriers to allow for more controlled burns

[@MySwordMyBowMyAxe]

@@fgsaramago This comment displays ignorance. Smaller fires provide space, nutrients & great chance for new healthy growth. Many pine cones require fires to melt the resin stopping seeds from being exposed. Simply removing "cleaning out" forests is labor intensive and not necessarily the healthiest thing for those ecosystems

[@crimsonrose]

@@MoonLiteNite Stop lying. I went to uni in California and I also learned about this 10 years ago from a professor at that school.

[@yadisfhaddad722]

I love how the 21st century is about learning what indigenous communities knew for thousands of years about ecosystem management and sustainability. Is long overdue, but better late than never.

[@itsmecaldo]

Right??? Colonizers come and duck everything up and push and suppress the natives but when they duck up to much they use indigenous techniques. Indigenous are the only native Americans that are one with the land.

[@LadyScaper]

I kinda wish indigenous cultures were also classed as scientists, because they have known this for over a millennia. Indigenous scientists have known and done the ecological studies/science and incorporated the results into the general culture. Scientific results that western scientists have only recently figured out. I feel like the using the term indigenous scientists, helps settlers understand how important the centuries of indigenous science is to everyone and needs to be followed (just like western science). What tragedies could have been avoided if indigenous science was respected much earlier then now?

[@starmaker75]

it funny how colonizer says their master of this land, but only now understanding using land properly

[@MagicalBread]

EXACTLY

[@amelie3012]

It reminds me how the Renaissance was basically rediscovering Roman and Greek knowledge that was forgotten during middle ages

[@lukelohmann5877]

Growing up in Australia, "Back Burning" has been done for thousands of years by the Indigenous People of Australia. And is a major strategy of the Australian firefighter forces

[@earlofsammich6886]

And as a wildland firefighter it’s one of the more fun parts of our job actually haha

[@jayus2033]

And how it that doing for you now 🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂🤣😂😂

[@earlofsammich6886]

@@jayus2033 actually very good, we back burned to stop many large fires this season

[@geekswithfeet9137]

Thousands of years of burning is why our soil is so poor and drought prone, necessitating more burning.... we need to get more innovative instead of making the problem worse

[@caimansaurus5564]

@@geekswithfeet9137 everything i've read about controlled burns indicates that they actually fertilize and enrich the soil. do you have a source?

[@terramater]

Awesome video, as always! And "Can we undo the damage" is a really good question! The current fire season has broken almost every record in terms of frequency and ferocity. During one of our latest film projects, we also realized that not only the increasingly hot, dry weather has resulted in a longer, more dramatic wildfire season, also bad housing development and fire management are severe problems. Change is needed here if we want to prevent upcoming fires.

[@Subject91121]

I thought Forest thinning is a thing

[@Wasserkaktus]

Humans planted the seeds of destruction in the Neolithic by wiping out most of the megafauna worldwide, particularly in the Americas. In terms of natural forest management, Megafauna played a key role in consuming and reducing excessive undergrowth, and without them, there is just a whole lot of excessively dry undergrowth which is the perfect kindling for fire.

[@fgsaramago]

@@Subject91121 thinning, raking, cleaning, whatever you want to call it is what's usually done in developed countries. Controlled fires is the lazy way out and incredibly damaging to environment and wildlife

[@elizabethhenning778]

@@fgsaramago And you know this how? It might be damaging to timber profit or rural house prices, but neither of those are the environment.

[@EnigmaticLucas]

It's gotten so bad that fire _season_ really only exists on paper since wildfires happen year-round now

[@SaltySparrow]

It makes total sense. Firefighters didn't exist 5,000 years ago and trees still exist. Its a process of death and renewal to reinvigorate.

[@windblazeanims6253]

Brash and ignorant North Americans clearly didn't understand or know that until just recently I guess.

[@1gorSouz4]

Well, to be fair cigarettes, campfires and arson didn't exist either...

[@Drew-be5dh]

@@1gorSouz4 most fires are caused from lightning. The intensity of fires are directly related to forest mismanagement.

[@verticalsorh7124]

Not to mention theirs literally species of trees that only drop their seeds during forest fires. In fact without the heat the seeds can’t escape the cones.

[@windblazeanims6253]

@sxpr33t It was like 3 in the morning when I typed that bruh I meant white people Edit: Wait no I was correct, you don't refer to the Europeans that settled in North America Europeans, since they took over North America that means they're now the ones called North Americans while the original North Americans are now refered to as Aboriginals, First Nations, (etc)

[@Sannidor]

Many plants have life cycles depending on cyclical fires to release their seeds. Makes you think, huh.

[@Koevoet19]

Sequoia’s for example! Biggest tree’s ever that rely on forest fires to plant themselves

[@fgsaramago]

Not many at all in the overall scheme.

[@digimonlover1632]

@@fgsaramago How?

[@AquaPrince27]

@@digimonlover1632 there is less than 10 recorded plants who spread seeds only through fire, its very obvious what the other commenter meant lol how did that confuse you

[@ligmajobs4686]

@@AquaPrince27 all desert and dry forest plants have a fire cycle. Every single one. Pinion pine, sage brush, chite grass, ponderosa pine, juniper trees, cedar pine. I could literally name a hundred more. You have no idea what you are talking about. Almost all plants in places where fires are common have a fire start.

[@Erik_The_Viking]

Here in California we have issues with poor fire management, building homes in areas prone to fires, and of course putting laws in place to prevent clearing out potential fire dangers like dead material, weak trees and other fuel sources. Then we complain about why fires are getting worse.

[@LoneWolf1493]

And then you have folks like the ones running this channel who shift the blame from white-man legislation onto “climate change”

[@Ren_1312]

Also pg&e (a major electric company in most of northern CA) doesn't maintain their power lines. They were responsible for the camp fire.

[@Erik_The_Viking]

@@Ren_1312 Exactly!

[@talbotmclaws7769]

Are we surprised that California, a very 'tree hugger' state, has laws against managing forests?

[@i.dle.k]

@@talbotmclaws7769 really?

[@ajson1232]

Sometimes you just gotta let Mother Nature take its course she knows what’s good for herself

[@ip5799]

not when global warming is interrupting

[@kristian3466]

Doesn't hurt to give her a hand as long as we know what we're doing, hence prescribed fires

[@doctorwholover1012]

Right ? It's almost like the flooding of the banks along the Nile made the ecosystem ripe and fertile for farming and native vegetation, and fires within forests via lightning strike/dry brush fires help the forest clear dead wood and provide seeds with access to the soil ! It's almost like mother nature....... involves fire and water in the natural processes....... because they ARE natural processes....... 👁👄👁

[@joycejames8461]

Nature's been around a lot longer than us humans, if we stop interfering then things will balance out again.

[@beef-jerky]

Hopefully she burns down all of California so they'll finally realize their mistakes.

[@LimeyLassen]

North America was already civilized for thousands of years. The wilderness wasn't wild, it just looked like it to Europeans who didn't understand, because every ecosystem has a unique character and unique challenges.

[@LadyScaper]

^ THIS

[@crazydragy4233]

@HunterBidensCrackPipe One thing is to develop, another to make it unusable :)

[@kanduyog1182]

@HunterBidensCrackPipe Found the colonizer.

[@Va11idus]

@@kanduyog1182 calling someone a "colonizer" as an insult has to be the most braindead take ever. "Your ancestors civilization was successful enough to go out and conquer foreign lands and settle them. You should feel embarrassed." Dang. Imagine having agriculture, science, animal husbandry, metallurgy, navigation, seafaring ships, etc. Maybe the people who got colonized should have spent less time killing eachother and more time developing.

[@annex6778]

Fight fire with fire. what a good quote

[@daakevinee]

You haven't even watched the video yet

[@marchwhitlock6455]

@@daakevinee Extrapolation.

[@gr8potatosaurusofthunderfart]

They are literally "fireman"

[@cringyhuman3210]

Huh maybe we should always fight fire with fire lol

[@DURRYAN]

Actually the ash of burnt trees can be nutrients for new trees

[@MarkusGlesnes]

Like how planting a lot of trees isnt super good. You need dead trees aswell.

[@muhammadwalid8440]

Yeah carbon inside soil is good thing

[@DevSarman]

And don't forget fungi as well

[@hedgehog3180]

I mean it literally contains everything that the old tree consisted of except the things that could evaporate which is mostly water and some carbon so obviously it's gonna have everything a new tree will need. Unlike animals plants keep almost everything they absorb for their entire life except Oxygen.

[@justinfowler2857]

Not only that. I fire sterilizes the soil and burns out weeds that choke out new tree and plant growth.

[@peterwhite034]

Once again, the Native Americans had the right idea

[@popeo1973]

Now that something

[@Nobody-gx2rz]

Our ancestors knowledge of nature is far superior than us (So called modern and intelligent people)

[@itsmecaldo]

Natives were one with the land

[@Nobody-gx2rz]

@@itsmecaldo not just US, but worldwide it’s the same case

[@LisaBeergutHolst]

"Only to the white man was nature a 'wilderness'." ―Luther Standing Bear

[@screamcheeese7175]

I'm actually glad that the forest service in my area does prescribed burns twice a year, May to June and October to November. And the people here are actually okay with it. Our town has burned down three times (1860s to 1920s), and so we're more at ease when we know there isn't much fuel for a fire to go through.

[@fgsaramago]

How about cutting it and removing it instead of burning it? I suppose it's cheaper to be lazy...

[@cattrish5384]

@@fgsaramago You probably didn't watch the video. But this also isn't a matter of "picking up branches" and "laziness." Burning these leaf and branch debris also recycles dead matter back into the ecosystem. controlled wildfires also help prevent future fires by prepping trees for these future events

[@Hexadolf]

​@@cattrish5384 The dude says "Turns out if you don't have an ignition source, you don't have the fire." moving on, nothing worth your time.

[@byrlink]

What area, State, Country?

[@beef-jerky]

Congrats on not living in California!!

[@sayed2088]

we should learn more from cultures that learnt important things a long time ago before colonisation changed it all

[@jurgenparkour9337]

@fiery but mostly peaceful what's your point? Vaccines are safe and have saved milions of lives and will save even more in the future

[@clintstewart5545]

@fiery but mostly peaceful well without vaccines maybe reaching 30 would be like reaching 100 now days

[@xKuukkelix]

@@jurgenparkour9337 he's just baiting

[@ok-pn6hg]

Native Americans were constantly using controlled burning in California to prevent wildfires.

[@marchwhitlock6455]

Guys, just report the anti-vaxxer and move on.

[@crankykransky2979]

Australia also had this problem in the early days of colonization because they stopped the Aboriginal people from backburning.

[@oscarnorth7245]

This is already Australia’s policy, and it really does work. This helps stop fire, and allows us to cope with it.

[@gardenjoy5223]

Good for you!

[@alexm566]

why you were complaining about the 2021 fires then?

[@larryjeremiah8250]

There's some satisfaction in knowing that there are dire consequences in ignoring and criminalising the ancestral knowledge and practices of The Land.

[@beef-jerky]

It's only criminal in California, it's used by every other continental state.

[@TotalDrganMania]

Lot of states do this. I assume this is another California passing poor policy decisions thing

[@userlog2474]

@@TotalDrganMania It's more of a colonialism thing.

[@Va11idus]

@@userlog2474 no, it's not. When you have people starting fires and burning your land, of course you're going to want them to stop. It has nothing to do with colonialism.

[@userlog2474]

@@Va11idus If it had nothing to do with colonialism, it wouldn't be referred to as "your land" in the first place.

[@krealyesitisbeta5642]

Native Americans: (Knew this for centuries) “Bruh, these guys are figuring this out now?”

[@gladiatorz1995]

In Australia, we do controlled burns to prevent fires in forests

[@berghwilliam]

Humans when there's a natural phenomenon that allows nature to regenerate: this is bad, let's work together to fix this issue! Humans when we cause the issues: *anyways*

[@waveplay3978]

Humans is a bit too general. Native Americans are humans too and they were clearly much smarter about this than the colonizers

[@berghwilliam]

@@waveplay3978 you might be right but I imagine they (as any other human) would fight nature to defend their home. It's just that humans in general don't think of consequences very often.

[@Va11idus]

@@waveplay3978 this is not even close to true. I love how these falsehoods permeate our society and there is nothing you can do to correct it because the natives didn't develope writing to keep records.

[@ulysses3183]

I liked how this conversation referenced historical Native American practices. What other common practices do we hold today that are counterintuitive?

[@32fps]

I think the better question is what do we NOT do. The first thing that comes to my mind is dams--rivers naturally flooded and it was actually a good thing that nature dealt with, but when people wanted their not-flood-proof houses to be on rivers, suddenly we had to stop the regular floods.... Which causes worse floods (besides a whole bunch of other issues with rivers' ecosystems)

[@tibodeclercq2131]

That socialism doesn't work is held back a lot

[@robos3809]

@@tibodeclercq2131 and capitalism does?

[@beef-jerky]

Touting Wind and Solar as Green. Trying to stop California from burning down. Sending out thousands of Mail-In ballots with no need for ID and then saying the election was secure. I could go on.

[@tibodeclercq2131]

@@robos3809 Absolutely! Even North Korea is secretly using capitalism but they do it under the form of forced labor: they send women to tourist spots in Asia, mainlt thailand, they earn money out there but have to give it to th enorth korean government, so they are basically used as slaves by the regime, but they make the money through capitalism. Also China is using capitalism. Vietnam has also embraced it. Richest people and countries are all capitalists (Honest capitalism).

[@s1ddh4r7h.p]

As is a lot of things, it's probably good in moderation

[@Honeybadger_525]

Vox did a great job explaining this complex topic in layman's terms! It's more important than ever we educate more folks about the importance of "good fires" in helping maintain healthy forest ecosystems, especially here in the western US.

[@joshuachristofferson9227]

Wow! It's almost like Mother Nature is smarter than us wee humans. How many times have we bested her again?

[@eriklakeland3857]

Zero. Mother Nature is undefeated.

[@baltasokolade]

When I was a kid, every spring we bored our fields back in Latvia, but last 10 years it has been banned and punishable. This was to encourage growth and fertility for the fields.

[@NyanGeneral]

given it's latvia, which is so much colder than californiia, burning probably won't (atleast currently and next 10 years) do much help

[@r1e5p3l7i2c]

burning fields every year is detrimental and depletes nutrients. It's doesn't have the same speciation advantages as burning a forest once in decade.

[@nussnougat5462]

Because that is only beneficial to the farmers and not the environment.

[@kayseek1248]

Boring fields?

[@latviantrainy968]

Tātad ir latvieši, kuri skatās šo kanālu :D vienmēr domāju, ka esmu vienīgais :DD

[@samueldanby]

Its funny watching this in Australia where this is something talked about all the time :)

[@sr.liam17]

America: Hey guys, we know how to control fires now! Australia: woooooow, you just found out, good 4 u. 😒 We have done that for thousands of years.

[@azj_]

Google: How to put out a fire? Use water. Bing: How to put out a fire? Use fire.

[@kellygrant3074]

Last year's fire along the Mckenzie river in westernOregon was a tragedy for homeowners and human lives lost, but the result is actually beautiful; revealing the topography of a rugged landscape that was always obscured by trees. The endless miles of fir may give way to a more diverse forest.

[@LTDextel]

I grew up understanding that controlled burns is the best way to contain a fire. So weird to see that people interpreted all fire as bad.

[@formoth3rrussia472]

the goverment legit went on a million dollar smear campaign against fire aswell alot of people died and lost there houses to wild fires humans have hated things for less

[@TeinMustang]

Florida has been using prescribed burns for decades with great success. On average over 2 million acres are burned this way in the state every year. It was only recently that I had learned that many state and local governments out west fight the forest service tooth and nail to try to prevent this kind of forest maintenance. It's sad that it's taking this massive loss of life for them to start going down the right track.

[@jacksonong2576]

I’m shocked the US hasn’t already adopted this method of fire management! This has been standard practice in Australia for decades?

[@5frogfrenzy]

We do, the problem is that home owners are critical of anything happening in their backyard. Even if it saves their homes. "Not in my backyard" is a very prevalent way of thinking over here.

[@taylorbug9]

Don't be shocked anytime there is something to be done you can trust that America will do it the dumbest most ineffective way. This is the American way ever since they stole this land from its rightful (and diligent) owners.

[@jacksonong2576]

@@5frogfrenzy back burning isn’t done in peoples backyards though it’s performed in state forests and national parks where there’s large vegetation growth

[@5frogfrenzy]

@@jacksonong2576 im not talking about literally in their backyards. "NIMBY" doesnt refer directly to the backyard but to the community. The burning of the surrounding area of a property will often times meet resistance from a community that would benefit from prescribed burns. This is why the forest service doesnt do it often. There are many communities on or near FS land that can stop or dissuade it from doing these burns.

[@jacksonong2576]

@@5frogfrenzy well when you said backyard that’s what it implied😂 I understand tho! That’s a very selfish way of thinking and it’s no wonder California’s wildfires are intensifying so much each year

[@joshu1918]

Environmentalists: We have to stop forest fires! Vox: hehe fire go brr

[@ashutoshkulkarni290]

😂

[@LeoStaley]

We've known this for at least 25 years. I remember reading a Popular Science article about this as a kid in around 1995.

[@djntu2964]

Indigenous people have known this for THOUSANDS of years…

[@timbushell8640]

@@djntu2964 Along with how to reduce the continent's megafauna...

[@gardenjoy5223]

Where Your personal knowledge becomes the measure of all things known to us...

[@martinvaldez327]

Here in Canada, natives use to do this. Once the settlers arrived, they put a ban on this cause they didn't want the beautiful forest burning but what they didn't know is that in order to get that forest, they had to maintain it by burning the forest. And this was back in 1610. Now 98% of that knowledge is gone.

[@scottfranco1962]

In California, we not only stopped fires, but we stopped logging and virtually put the lumber industry out of business in the name of the environment. Lumber production in CA is 1/6 of what it was in its peak. So now we have way more standing timber with dryer conditions. What is happening to all the trees we saved? You're breathing it now. Good going.

[@EricHamm]

You mean breathing CO2 or O? You seem to be bitter about logging. As far as I know those were done on tree farms not in the areas where there is densely populated neighborhoods. It would be interesting to see a area map of tree farms and compare it to forest fire coverage areas. I would have think FF dwarf logging in terms of tree destruction.

[@josephwoo69]

Trees are not the problem. Large trees like California redwoods are actually quite fire resistant. Did you even watch the video? The issue is that there’s a huge buildup of excess “fuels” (dead plants, sticks, straw, etc). Chopping down trees and leaving the fuels would only make the issue worse

[@bradleyjurd]

Great video but felt like the Indigenous Australians and fire management in Australia should’ve got a mention. Our indigenous people have been back burning thousands of years

[@32fps]

Why? Our indigenous people did it too--they mentioned it in the video--so why also mention Australia? The video is talking about America.

[@changedpace9169]

This is literally about America you dingus

[@mxmissy]

@@32fps Sadly, Australia is known for our bushfires. It would've been nice if they mentioned Australia, sure it's an American company, but it's nice to learn about things outside your backyard.

[@32fps]

@@mxmissy Not trying to knock Australia here, but my point is it's a video about America--specifically in the west--not that's it's by an American company. Vox has done plenty of videos about other countries, but this one was specifically aimed at Americans and our history with it. You say Australia is known for bush fires, but California is also known for large forest fires. I guess my irritation stems from the weird abundance of people acting like Australia NEEDED to be in this video. It didn't. If I did a video about similar weather events--let's say, floods along the Mississippi--and how they're worse now because of dams, development, climate change, etc., and how natives used to allow those areas to flood because it produced better crops but knew not to put their houses along the river, should I expect outrage from every place on earth that this has happened to? If this video was about fires in general, then yeah, they should include Australia, but it wasn't.

[@poojabajantri1540]

I'm actually glad that the forest service in my area does prescribed burns twice a year, May to June and October to November. And the people here are actually okay with it. Our town has burned down three times (1860s to 1920s), and so we're more at ease when we know there isn't much fuel for a fire to go through.

[@ThePowerRanger]

Its always frustrating to know that something is done to solve a problem, actually causes/increases the problem.

[@tenapics]

Here in Spain, forest firefighters are always asking to have a full year contract to take care of the forest the whole year. This is one of the ways they would do to prevent huge fires but politicians only contract them during fire season, making their jobs so much difficult

[@mccallanger6734]

THIS. We need to get back healthy, balanced forest environments

[@jwanie366]

I feel like I learned this a long time ago but just wasn't completely aware of how serious the problem was. Glad that I watched this video!

[@mxmissy]

We have the same thing here in Australia, called backburning. And it's also documented that our first nations people have also done that too, it's called cultural burning. It was discontinued in Australia but recently has been reintroduced. And it's being called in due to the 2019-2020 bushfires we dealt with.

[@Fg795yt]

In Australia We do this as most of are trees use fire to grow more and we know it’s good

[@mal9369]

It's so good that were finally listening to native voices when it comes to land stewardship. The knowledge and wisdom they hold is immeasurable and disregarding them for centuries has lead to this country's ruin in many ways. Only by existing in harmony with the natural way of the ecosystem can we ever build a sustainable life

[@sassy3923]

Why are the indigenous peoples so much smarter than the rest of us? Could it be their humble respect for life as opposed to our incessant greed for profits? Let's put them in charge for a change......

[@ok-pn6hg]

You can't espouse environmental protection while causing environmental degredation and retain credibility. The native people know what is best for California. They tended to it like a garden for centuries before the Spanish showed up.

[@stillfoufou]

So grateful that in Sequoia National Park there have been prescribed fires in the Sequoia grove known as the Giant Forest since the 1960s. Those 60 years of prescribed fires have - so far - saved the trees from the worst of the fire that is happening there now. Yosemite National Park also does prescribed fires. You won't see them in the summer. They happen late fall/winter.

[@vinceb8041]

Ah, the good old US, trying to solve one problem with some intuitive, fast-thought solution and creating 10 new ones in the process. Where have I seen that before?

[@LimeyLassen]

Like how cane toads were imported to Australia to solve a pest problem. Big oof.

[@Yutappy99]

Like many things in life, balance is the key.

[@mwhalfmann]

Forest Service: *starts thinning out a pine tree stand* Town: "We and the Sierra Club have come together to STOP you and your destructive ways!" Town: "why didnt you do anything to prevent this forest fire that incinerated our homes!!!"

[@rubbersidedown5620]

I did a school report on this like 3 decades ago and we still keep making the same mistakes.

[@tucosalamanca5818]

Australia has been doing this for ages while America is just finding out lol

[@notwilshire]

They do this in the Southeast US. People in West US don’t.

[@hameley12]

LOL! True, for such a mature and leading country full of "smart men" who like to ignore indigenous women and men. Hundreds of years later "by the way this is our idea" 😂 No! The indigenous people knew better! I am still learning about Native Americans and how to grow some of their medicinal plants at home.

[@xKuukkelix]

Same with finland. We've been doing this for a long time

[@kaavi1391]

@@hameley12 without those ' smart men ' you probably wouldn't be alive today or have internet to write a comment on.

[@kanduyog1182]

@@kaavi1391 I think he was being sarcastic about how the "smart men" are just only recently learning stuff that's been common knowledge to Native Americans for hundreds of years with regards to the well being of the environment.

[@dysfunctionalisme]

I came over from the Larynx video to watch her say "fahrest"

[@dillonfrylinck639]

Same 😂

[@roseashkiiii4361]

Yes 😂

[@AnOriginalYouTuber]

"9 out of 10 fires are started by humans. Only you can prevent forest fires" - Smokey Bear

[@morteza1024]

We should have only prevented those 9.

[@uniaodemocraticaruralista2924]

This was uploaded 6 min ago, video is 8 min long and people are commenting without watching the full video

[@calebkrochalk8286]

I want to say that I learned about this stuff in middle school. In Minnesota at least, sustainable forestry and controlled burns has reduced the amount of many mega fires. The worst fires usually only happen because of blowdowns.

[@zeromailss]

Excellent animation, it help to understand the concept instead of becoming more confusing

[@thebasicbee2098]

I am sure the title got many of us confused😂

[@sr.liam17]

Not us Australians!

[@juanelissetche6776]

I do prescribed burns and this was one of the biggest topics we covered when we talked about the over accumulation of litter and it’s links to wildfires

[@stalker2084]

Vox can literally talk about Arsonists and they can make it scientific and interesting

[@bri1085]

Arson is interesting, would be more concerning if they couldn't make it interesting

[@xKuukkelix]

Controlled burning of the forest has nothing to do with arson

[@fgsaramago]

@@xKuukkelix how not? It's the laziest way of dealing with the problem

[@domenicocor1185]

@@fgsaramago it's actually way difficult we do it in italy since 2018 and it require a lot of programming, because cities are a lot closer to forest than in the usa and you need to study the species of trees the Bush under them the geology and lastly the weather

[@fgsaramago]

@@domenicocor1185 here in Portugal we have the air force doing that. Turns out it's actually good training for them.

[@888TMONEY888]

super interesting, much love from md!

[@abdielmoreno-cruz354]

This video brings a lot of clarity to the recent fires that have been happening. Unfortunately a majority of the public will still believe “Oh no climate change with forest fires is bad”. They’re not entirely wrong, but it’s common knowledge fire is an element for a reason. Let’s just do our best to push through in a manner that’ll benefit the environment and ourselves as a species

[@LukeJukeDuke]

Vox never disappoints with these kinds of videos

[@MoonLiteNite]

@6:43 Of that 85%, cigs only cause

[@1965Grit]

When you say removing older, overgrown areas of vegetation, I think,,,clear cut logging!!! We had far less catastrophic fires when logging was allowed, ( and no, climate change has nothing to do with this discussion. ) We had less catastrophic fires because logging was the best way to manage the forests, it got rid of all the underbrush, the older trees and all other fire hazards, then they would replant new tres that would grow into healthy forests, now we have privately owned healthy forests, that are bordering unmanaged national forests, and the national forests are putting the private forests in danger, we deal with this constantly here in Oregon, this years Bedrock fire is the 4th fire in the same area in 10 years, and the result has been the same every time, it burns for months until the rainy season, we spend millions of dollars for firefighting, after the fire they do nothing to clear the area and replant trees, the underbrush grows back in, then another fire breaks out, Rinse and repeat,,, total mismanagement!!!!

[@Ccnsword]

The people who took this land had no idea about how to take care of it

[@ok-pn6hg]

Exactly. California was a big garden for the natives before the Spanish showed up.

[@formoth3rrussia472]

they should of held on to there land better then

[@brostrod]

as a wise man once said: "Stopping fires isn't about saving the forest, it's about saving human infrastructure"

[@TheEyrie]

Even though I don't live anywhere near a forest, I know that controlled burns are important for their ecology.

[@formoth3rrussia472]

yeah after u watched the video

[@i_am_aladeen]

Fun thing is, I learned about this 30 years ago. USA act like it's surprising news.

[@noonesenemy89]

I need to strongly disagree on "fire isn't always a destructive force". It is. That's can be beneficial, if all is balanced.

[@jhunz23]

Amazing research. Thank you Vox ❤️

[@danielthomas3322]

"But decades of suppression have led to a buildup of..." The American Way :')

[@DaveParr]

It's true in France too. Fire suppression in France around vineyards gave significantly changed the diversity and success of woodlands in surrounding areas. The fuel build up issue is also true.

[@jrussell6579]

This is literally what Australian indigenous knew. in aus they do back burns.

[@Arguinghen]

The only problem is that the way the Australian government try to replicate this does not work out. Like cmon man, let the professionals do their job.

[@hedgehog3180]

@@Arguinghen The Australian government is like a mini-US at times but somehow they're even more racist against their indigenous citizens.

[@wahyu-adji]

thank you for the animation, i finally get it

[@The1theycallghost3030]

Who else came here after watching the voices are like a fingerprint video

[@Robert08010]

In the Jersey Pines, we see reminders of forest fires all the time. But having learned these lessons, I started looking more objectively at what remains after a forest fire. One area I noticed a fire rolled through quickly and there was very little underbrush. The ground was scorched as were the tree trunks up to about 3 or 4 feet. But the canopy overhear was unaffected and that area looked 100% back to normal in just a few months. Another area that had denser underbrush and so burned slower and much hotter. In that area the fire was hot enough to ignite the trees and so that area was stripped bare. Even 6+ years later, that area is not back to normal. New growth has begun but all the old growth was wiped out.

[@branpod]

We do controlled burns where I live and hardly ever have actual wildfires. Maybe certain states should learn a thing or two…

[@MoonLiteNite]

Same, in central texas, we get a mid size wildfire like every 10 years or so, actually last one was 10 years ago, and that was one huge, before that was like 15?

[@assumjongkey1383]

Well I don't understand what you said

[@branpod]

@@assumjongkey1383 that is unfortunate

[@assumjongkey1383]

@@branpod can u explain that are you trying to say

[@branpod]

@@assumjongkey1383 the fire department is responsible for starting small, controlled fires in the woods. This allows for pine cones to release their seeds, repopulating the trees. Additionally, burning off the excess brush decreases the chance of wildfires starting and causing real damage. In a world without humans, lightning would be used to regulate forests via fires. But, since wildfires cause harm to us, controlled burns allow for this maintenance without harming people

[@jamesmorris2010]

We've heard this same story for 30 years. The problem is changing public policy to actually do it.

[@AshVXmc]

Ferb, I know what we're gonna do today!

[@itsfhproductions5290]

People really need to listen, to actually listen, to the indigenous peoples because they have always known best about this

[@mikeystojsic]

I find it so frustrating that the natives of every country understand the land and yet us whites always think we've come in to take over and somehow know better 🤦🏻‍♂️ it happened here in Australia too.

[@maxattack3853]

While your frustration at colonialism is warranted and we may have lost so many stories and practices that would be helpful, boiling it down to "whites always thinking we know best over indigenous people" misses that colonialism while done by white people, wasn't done by the "whites". It was many separate groups, british, french, spanish, dutch, etc. I feel as though what your saying can lead people to think that just because people are "indigenous" that means they know better. "whites" are natives to different lands too though they have spread out due to colonialism. What I'm trying to say is while native cultures often have a lot of knowledge about places, it's important to still do research.

[@Christine.Baraka]

The difference between living in harmony with nature and pushing back against it. Mother Nature will win

[@Tustin2121]

It’s amazing in just how many places we’re still (and likely forever will be) feeling the effects of colonialism... like this example of just not even paying attention to how native people, who were here for thousands of years prior, took care of the land we took over.

[@covfefe1787]

they didnt. they literally almost hunted Bison to extinction in the 1880s not very environmentally friendly at all. they literally chased Bison from the the western bank of the Mississippi to to Montana before hunting them was banned.

[@Tustin2121]

@@covfefe1787 - I presume you’re talking about all the white people who hung out of trains and shot at bison and just left them to rot and not the natives who a) were forced westward out of their native lands by the US in the first place but also, b) hunted the bison on horseback and actually used most of not all of the remains that they got from it?

[@Fasteroid]

On a bus tour in Alaska, my tour guide said the exact same things about fires being a natural part of forests.

[@l_MIK_l]

Arsonists: No need to thank me🔥

[@ashtrayman7748]

In the South East they do control burns of 1/3 of the forests on a rotational basis each year and are doing pretty well.

[@donutchan8114]

I remember a biology book explaining the process of forest regrowth after a fire, but it took several years of additional information to piece together the need of controlled fires to thin out the brush. Wish this had been pieced together sooner by people who could do something about it.

[@loneforest6541]

wow....did not knew forest fire not only destroy, but sometime helps...nature is awesomely designed

[@mightymistermike]

This is called "The Thanos Strategy" Edit: Great. Vox ruined my joke

[@toshi_btc]

freaks are emerging

[@marziasadat5591]

It was very informative and interesting 💙💚

[@paleoph6168]

Can you do a video on rhino dehorning? I think it is worth exploring this controversial topic.

[@bontronblock]

Thanos' wife talking about forest fires... neeto

[@ahamed1232002]

I like how Thanos has transitioned to this. Good for him!

[@jdmmg4904]

Thanks for covering this

[@Kavya.kothari]

Death is a living process, you are living and dying on the same time, every second you are a little more dead, one day this dying will be completed.

[@borkwoof696]

Wow this is soo deep😯

[@JamieRambles]

Hooray!!

[@Richard_Gonda]

lol you must be depressed if you think of life this way

[@Kavya.kothari]

@@Richard_Gonda am not depressed bro, life is death, that's why you should only do things those matter. If you say the truth of life depression then ok for you 😂 but am not depressed. Meditate bro, meditate, go beyond your physical.

[@Kavya.kothari]

@@borkwoof696 that is why my brother, go beyond your physical, physical will fall down atom by atom one day, meditate.

[@cipher3966]

This may be the first video I have seen that discussed wildfires in detail along with how we should control them. Almost all of the others have just claimed climate change as the one and only factor with the usual "this is getting worse be scared" message.

[@rachit-sharma]

Literally the same thing Stossel said. His video's reach was limited by social media...

[@kianhansen4177]

thank you big tech eh

[@cheryl-lynnmehring8606]

So informative, I learned a ton as always!!! Not just about fire but indigenous people, plants, & culture! ❤