News From Our NEW District Conservation Technician, Autumn Van Bibber

Fire Ecology

This newsletter is called Mesa Conservation Resource Connection, as it connects us to you! Natural resources encompass a variety of topics, including agriculture, animals, wind, water, plants, sunlight, and soil. Our goal is to connect you with knowledge, resources, and fresh ideas as we explore the vast topics of natural resources together.

Spring is right around the corner, and we can all look forward to longer days, more sun, and sprouting plants. However, with warmer weather also comes fire season. Fire Ecology studies fire as a natural component and how it affects an ecosystem as a whole. Understanding fire ecology is important because it helps communities reduce risk, protect lives and property, and manage landscapes in a way that supports healthy ecosystems.

Fire Ecology

The Western Slope of Colorado experienced severe fires in 2025, marking the worst fire year in Colorado since 2020 in terms of wildfire damage. Over 200,000 acres were burned across Western Colorado throughout the summer of 2025. Wildfires are devastating to areas, including destroying structures, land, and causing loss of life.

Fire ecology is the study of how fire affects ecosystems. Valuable work is done before, during, and after fires. Many organizations provide data, information, and resources to prevent, manage, and control fires. Fire can affect the ecosystem in many different ways, impacting wildlife, vegetation, water quality, air quality, soil, and structures. Wildfires cause damage, but fire can be used as a tool to mitigate against severe fires and can be beneficial to ecosystems.

Understanding the causes of wildfires and how they spread is vital to fire mitigation. The two leading causes of wildfires across the United States are human-caused or lightning-caused. Severe wildfires that spread widely also tend to burn in areas with abundant dry fuel. Fuel can be made up of trees, grasses, shrubs, dead plant matter, and fallen branches. Fire severity, speed, and spread often change based on the fuel around it. The drier the fuel, the quicker it ignites, and the hotter it tends to burn. This creates a severe fire that is more damaging to the land. With Mesa County and the surrounding areas of Western Colorado in severe drought conditions, we can see the impacts on fires in these areas. Brush management can be a very important factor in fire management as it can either create a slow-moving and low-intensity fire or a fast-spreading, high-intensity fire. Brush management can include thinning out areas with overgrowth and prescribed burns. Fire itself can be used to control the amount of fuel in an area and can help mitigate severe fires.

“Fire is not inherently bad”

When discussing fire ecology and wildfire mitigation practices, it is important to include the science of Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Fire has been used as a tool for many generations. Native Americans and other Indigenous peoples have used fire to manage vegetation and wildlife species, to hunt, to clear land for crops, and to clear excessive fuel to prevent wildfires. The practice of controlled or prescribed burns is used widely as a wildfire prevention and management tool. It is valuable to remember that fire is not inherently bad. When used appropriately, fire can be an effective tool and a natural process that is necessary for the survival of some organisms. There are many plant species that need fire or smoke for their seeds to be released.

As we continue to see drought conditions in Western Colorado, we will see fires. Many organizations are working to manage fuels, create resources, raise fire safety awareness, control fire spread, use prescribed burning, provide brush management, and fight wildfires to avoid catastrophic impacts.

Mesa Conservation District acknowledges the brave work done to control and manage fire in the Western Slope and across the country, and share our appreciation for all involved in this vital work!

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