Private Forests “Fire Dilemma”

More than 58% of U.S. forests are privately owned, which poses a huge challenge to forest fire prevention. Although the Biden administration has introduced a number of policies and invested money in forest management and fire prevention, it has not been effective in preventing fire in privately owned forests. Private forest owners are mostly profit-oriented and have low motivation to invest in fire prevention. The high cost of clearing weeds and identifying potential hazards affects their profits, and they often shift the responsibility for fire prevention to the government. The Biden administration’s approach to this is limited, with insufficient resources for further investment and political constraints. The dependence of governors and legislators on donations from capitalist groups, and the fact that most private forest owners are forestry capitalists or related interests, have led to concerns about the government’s ability to develop strict fire prevention policies.