As Oregon and California set new wildfire destruction records this past week (3.1 million acres burned in California and 1 million in Oregon), climate change experts argue this is just the beginning.
“Climate change dries out the grassland and will continue to make summers longer and hotter, with longer fire seasons,” explained Brad Chalfant, founding director of the Deschutes Land Trust, which has been trying to buy the Skyline Forest to create more of a wildland-urban interface zone between Bend and the wider forest.
“The reduced snowpack in the Cascades means there’s less water available in the summer for soil and vegetation. Whether fires ignite while people are out recreating or from people who live near a WUI, or from natural causes like lightning, Oregon is likely to…
