The discourse on wildfire resilience is textured and varied – with new research publications, articles, StoryMaps, white papers, and more introduced each week. Today, we’re sharing a sample of some publications we’re diving into to better understand the current conversation. What other wildfire resilience resources are you reading this week? Share with us in the comments!
Southern Area Wildfire Risk Assessment Fall 2025
The Southern Area Fall 2025 Wildfire Risk Assessment evaluates how summer weather patterns and current trends may influence fire potential in the southern U.S. from October through December 2025. The report outlines best-case, worst-case, and most-likely scenarios to help fire managers prepare for a range of possible outcomes.
Check it out to see how these wildfire risk assessments are conducted, and learn more about the wildfire outlook for the southern area.
Naming It Is Not Enough: An Orienting Map for Understanding Conservation’s Entanglement With Power
This paper, published in September in Conservation Letters, examines the role of power in conservation work. The authors introduce a framework with six dimensions of power to help practitioners critically assess their own roles in producing and reproducing power dynamics. By using this framework, conservation practitioners can better understand how their assumptions and actions influence outcomes, reducing the risk of unintentionally reinforcing existing power imbalances.
Guardians and Gardeners: Managing Wilderness for the Twenty-First Century
Another article from September 2025, published in BioScience, argues for a reimagined wilderness philosophy that integrates Indigenous knowledge and proactive management to address the complex environmental challenges of the twenty-first century. This paper builds off of the lead author Clare Boerigter’s additional work examining the relationship between wilderness and fire. You can read her post on her last published article on our blog here.
From Overgrowth to Renewal: How Restoration is Transforming Western Dry Forests
This article from the Nature Conservancy highlights how western dry-forest ecosystems—once more regularly maintained by frequent low-intensity fires and Indigenous stewardship—have become overgrown, increasing the risk of large, severe wildfires. Ecological thinning and prescribed burning are featured as methods to restore these forests, as well as re-enabling natural fire cycles.
Check out the article and the beautiful accompanying illustrations here.
Wildland Fire Smoke Risk Communication Research: An Overview of Recent Review Articles
This resource from the Northwest Fire Science Consortium summarizes recent review articles on communication about wildland fire smoke, highlighting common themes and key findings across multiple studies. Check it out in conjunction with FAC Net’s new Smoke Ready Community resources.
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