Modernizing Wildland Firefighting to Protect Our Firefighters

The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) has identified opportunities for science and technology to make the job of wildland firefighting safer and more effective. Indeed, the linchpin of our country’s effort to combat wildfires is a dedicated corps of tens of thousands of state and federal wildland firefighters, who risk their lives to defend over 1.5 billion acres of fire-prone land in the United States.

Wildfires are a severe and growing threat to American lives, property, and infrastructure. The confluence of a changing climate, urbanization, and constraints on forest management has added urgency to the need to enhance our strategy to address this threat.