WILDER THAN WILD: Fire, Forests and the Future is a 56-minute film that reveals how fuel build-up and climate change have exposed Western wildlands to large, high intensity wildfires, while greenhouse gases released from these fires accelerate climate change. This vicious cycle jeopardizes our forests and affects us all with extreme weather and more wildfires, some of which are now entering highly populated wildland-urban areas. What defines a mega-fire? Why are they increasing in frequency? And how has the extraordinary increase in the size, frequency and severity of wildfires caused unprecedented suppression costs, destruction of properties, natural resource damage, and in some cases, loss of life? Given that mega-fires have become a grim reality of modern times, join me as I learn from Stephen much more about the fires of the future and their potential impact on life as we know it.
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INSIGHTS
- This is a personal show for our Mrs. Green, as she shares the loss of her family’s dream cabin during the 2011 Wallow Fire in Arizona.
- Stephen’s personal journey to become a filmmaker, from his origins as a playwright, is a dynamic one – hear more about his story on this podcast.
- Forest fires are consuming 3 times as much land as they did in the 1980s – and they are burning more severely (rather than in ways that are ecologically beneficial).
- What is a fire suppression policy? There is an important history to this concept – hear more from Stephen on this podcast.
- We tend to separate nature from people and indigenous peoples do not – what can we all learn from that approach? How does the National Park Service show up in this story? Great history being shared on this podcast!
- What makes a fire a mega-fire? 100,000 acres has to burn and a higher percentage of severe burning has to happen for a fire to be labeled as a mega-fire.
- We can expect an increasing trend of these mega-fires because of climate change. There is a relationship between the causes of the mega-fires and the carbon they are putting into the air. What is the economic impact of these fires on the communities and the fire fighting departments?
- Why should we all be concerned about these fires, even if the fire is not directly touching our communities? Forests themselves add a lot to the quality of our lives – whether we live right next door to them or not. We don’t have a “fire season” any longer – we don’t have enough people to fight these fires year round. Deforestation is as great a source of greenhouse gases as transportation worldwide. We have to be able to store carbon and the loss of our forests is devastating that effort.
- We are now in danger of losing our forests. They are turning from being a place to store carbon to a place that emits carbon due to fire.
- What can we expect next from Stephen Most? Great things are on the horizon and the work could not be more important.
GET INFORMED!
- Learn more about Stephen’s work on his website and join him on Facebook and Twitter
- Check out Wilder than Wild and engage in the conversation on Facebook
GET ACTIVE!
- Be pro-active and be prepared, should a fire come to your community? Make a plan! Get to know your neighbors, assess needs in your community and make sure emergency plans and budgets are in place.
- Get involved with the September 8, 2018 People’s Climate Movement
- Purchase a copy of Stephen’s book, Stories Make the World: Reflections on Storytelling and the Art of the Documentary
- Host a community screening of Wilder than Wild – information available on the website