Study contradicts USDA on forest road fire risk

A new study published in Fire Ecology challenges the U.S. Department of Agriculture's assertion that more roads are needed to combat wildfires in national forests. The research indicates that roads significantly increase the likelihood of fire ignitions, with fires being four times more probable within 50 meters of a road. While roads can facilitate early detection and suppression of some smaller fires, they also introduce human activity, the primary cause of wildfires. The study found no meaningful difference in the size of catastrophic fires between roaded and roadless areas, suggesting that increased road construction may exacerbate, rather than mitigate, the wildfire crisis.