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Wildfire mitigation has big financial and environmental costs. »Ê¹ÚÍøÖ·'s Emma VandenEinde says an ecological alternative is sprouting in Boulder.

After a relatively slow start, the fire season in the United States is now in full swing. With dozens of uncontrolled large fires burning across the country, the news is again full of images of homes and other structures reduced to blackened foundations. At a demonstration garden in southwest Idaho, one group hopes to educate homeowners and others on the many steps that can be taken to prepare their property for wildfires.

Advocates are hopeful that a legislative fix will come in time to avoid pay cuts, but for now thousands of federal firefighters are out on the line with the Sept. 30 deadline fast approaching.

A bill that would permanently raise federal wildland firefighter pay has been introduced in the U.S. House, with bipartisan backing. While not the comprehensive reform many wanted, advocates are hopeful that the Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act can be passed in time to avoid substantial pay cuts.

When wildfires burn, it seems like the flames go everywhere and it can be difficult to predict their path. Engineers from Colorado State University developed a model to help with those predictions.

Among the legislative solutions to the looming wildland firefighter pay cliff is the recently introduced Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act, which would create permanent raises. However, some advocates are concerned that even with the legislation, many firefighters could still see substantial cuts when funding for temporary raises runs out at the end of September.

Independent journalist Adriana Cargill shares how the experience and knowledge she gained from covering the Woolsey Fire might be helpful for Colorado residents during wildfire season.

Less than three months remain before federal wildland firefighters see their pay cut substantially – unless Congress intervenes soon. To raise pressure on legislators, Grassroots Wildland Firefighters has started circulating a petition demanding swift action, and in just a few days it has already gotten nearly 8,000 signatures.

A new report from Headwaters Economics and Columbia University’s Climate School paints a damning picture of wildfire policy priorities: those interventions most effective at protecting communities and ecosystems – like building codes, home hardening and prescribed fire – often get the least support, while the least effective (and even sometimes counterproductive) – like wildfire suppression – receive billions in funding.

In the first of five expected rounds of grant applications, the federal government awarded nearly $180 million to communities across the country to fund projects to reduce wildfire risk. The first round met the goals of prioritizing high-risk, low-income and disaster-impacted communities pretty well, but there’s still room for improvement.