Private ownership of forests and land reduces wildfires | Lawrence J. McQuillan

Discussions about the causes of wildfires typically focus on drought, extreme temperatures, severe winds and the buildup of dry vegetation. But economics plays a critical role, too -- especially land ownership and property rights in the fire-prone American West. 

America’s largest landowner, by far, is the federal government, which owns and manages about 46% of all the land in the 11 contiguous Western states. In fact, 55% of the area burned in wildfires last year was on federal land, a disproportionate amount. More than 80% of Nevada, 60% of Utah, Idaho and Alaska, half of Oregon, and nearly half of California are federally owned. When state-owned land is included, government ownership of the American West jumps to 52%.

That has proved disastrous for fire prevention because governments are poor stewards of land.

As with most public roads, bridges, dams and water systems, public lands urgently need maintenance. But governments underinvest in land management because officials view land as a liability, meaning that upkeep is considered an expense, not an investment.

Governments derive little revenue from land holdings, and government officials cannot personally benefit from their use. So the economic potential of public lands is seldom maximized. Moreover, prominent environmental groups pressure politicians to preserve public land in a “pristine natural state” through aggressive fire suppression and a generally hands-off approach to fire-prevention measures such as vegetation thinning and prescribed burns. All of this is bolstered by state and federal regulations.

As a result, decades of inadequate thinning and controlled burns on public lands have allowed trees, underbrush, pests and deadwood to accumulate, creating tinderboxes for huge conflagrations.

In contrast, private individuals and companies tend to manage their land more effectively. Private landowners have strong incentives to ensure their land is protected — whether they use it for profit, conservation or both. Private parties do not want their assets to go up in flames, so they tend to act as good stewards.

Farmers and ranchers establish fuel breaks, create buffers and manage the land for long-term productivity and wildfire resilience. Timber companies manage forests for sustainable growth, tree health and wildfire prevention. They build logging roads deep into forests, which also serve as access points for fire prevention and suppression activities.

Unsurprisingly, a growing body of scholarly research finds that private land stewardship reduces wildfire frequency and severity.

For example, a 2021 study by Ana Barros of Oregon State University and three U.S. Forest Service researchers examined 1,581 wildfires in the Pacific Northwest during a 35-year period. It found that land with “highly valued resources” — including land with “private industrial” and “private non-industrial” owners — burned less than expected, while wilderness land owned by the U.S. Forest Service burned more than expected.

Similarly, an economist with a university in India, in a 2022 study, found that U.S. wildfires destroyed fewer acres in states where private ownership of forest land exceeded government ownership than in states where government ownership predominated. His conclusion: Private property rights “provide a more effective framework for safeguarding natural resources against catastrophic events like wildfires.”

A 2024 analysis published in Forest Ecology and Management found that remedial activities such as mechanical thinning and prescribed burns “reduce surface fuels” and “decrease subsequent wildfire severity” by 62% to 72% in the western United States relative to untreated areas. Controlled burns were found to be most effective. Infestation by the mountain pine beetle in western Montana, which increases the risk of catastrophic wildfires, was stopped by consistent treatments.

These and other studies support the conclusion that private owners are better incentivized than government bureaucrats to undertake the difficult work of fire-risk mitigation through active land management.

Private stewardship of land properly aligns incentives with effective, innovative and cost-efficient fire prevention that save lives, preserves property and restores forest health. Wildfires can’t be eliminated, but their incidence and severity can be minimized.