Researchers say that’s especially important across the West, where decades of fire suppression have left many landscapes overgrown, increasing the risk of more explosive wildfires.
In eastern Nevada’s Great Basin, researchers found that carefully planned burns can clear out dense, aging vegetation and encourage the growth of native grasses, shrubs and wildflowers. That new growth provides forage for wildlife, including Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep.
“Bighorn sheep like young forests that recover, so shrubs, grass and flowering plants and all that,” said Louis Provencher, a restoration ecologist with the Nature Conservancy and the study’s lead author. “Fire will just create that.”
While the study centered on bighorn sheep habitat, researchers say the benefits extend to other wildlife as well, including mule deer and elk, which rely on a mix of grasses, shrubs and open habitat.
The findings come as land managers across the Mountain West expand the use of prescribed fire after years of increasingly destructive wildfire seasons. But prescribed burns still make up a small share of restoration work. They require narrow weather windows, trained crews and careful coordination, and can raise public concern over smoke and the risk of escape.
Provencher said the Great Basin reflects a broader pattern across the West, where fire suppression has left many landscapes denser and less diverse than historic conditions.
That buildup can fuel more intense wildfires when they occur, while also reducing the younger plant communities many wildlife species depend on.
The study suggests prescribed fire is most effective when applied under the right conditions, sometimes alongside other treatments like forest thinning, which removes excess trees and brush, or reseeding native plants.
Across the West, researchers say the challenge is no longer whether fire belongs on the landscape – but how to safely bring it back in a way that restores both ecological balance and habitat.
“This is the kind of treatment that’s fairly common across the West,” Provencher said. “The lessons learned here are especially valuable for people working in arid landscapes.”
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between KUNR, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
