Wildfire at the Crossroads

The relationship between people and wildfire has always been paradoxical: fire is an essential ecological process and management tool but can also be detrimental to life and property. Consequently, fire regimes have been modified throughout history through both intentional burning to promote benefits and active suppression to reduce risks. Reintroducing fire and its benefits back into the Sky Island mountains of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands has the potential to reduce adverse impacts of altered fire regimes and build resilient ecosystems and human communities. Our findings provide a new depiction of fire regimes in the Sky Islands that can help inform fire management, restoration and regional conservation planning, fostered by local and traditional knowledge and collaboration among landowners and managers. Learn more at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1178622120969191.

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