What is fire’s natural role in Virginia’s ecosystems?
More than 100 years of excluding fire, combined with past land-use practices, have altered Virginia’s landscape. This has resulted in changes such as a heavy buildup of dead vegetation, dense stands of trees, a shift to species that are not adapted to fire, and occasionally, even an increase in non-native fire-prone plants. Because of these conditions, today’s fires tend to be larger, burn hotter, and spread farther and faster, making them more severe, more dangerous, and more costly in human, economic, and ecological terms.
