“The use of small, controlled burns to clear out flammable underbrush has saved thousands of giant sequoias from devastating wildfires, new research finds.

The new study used aerial and satellite imagery to examine more than 26,000 giant sequoias. It found the trees were roughly four times more likely to survive the Castle and KNP Complex fires if they had been treated with a prescribed burn in the previous decade. In total, prescribed burns saved an estimated 1,900 sequoias, according to the study, published in Nature Communications. Had burns been applied to every tree, the research found, another 3,900 sequoias would have been spared.”

From Yale Environment 360.