NASA budget cuts put wildfire fighting programs at risk
The FireSense project uses controlled burns to study how wildfires spread, and could help prevent them before they happen.
HINESVILLE, Ga. — From an altitude of 9,000 feet, NASA scientists soared over hundreds of acres of burning brush this month at Fort Stewart Army base, monitoring the flames as they spread and engulfed the land.
This time, the blaze was a controlled one, set intentionally to clear the area in what’s known as a “prescribed burn.” But the research, which makes up NASA’s FireSense project, will help firefighters battle real wildfires when they do ignite, and it could even help land managers prevent some blazes from starting in the first place.
Yet with the Trump administration reportedly proposing steep budget cuts at NASA and other federal agencies, programs like FireSense could be in jeopardy — all while fire season is ramping up.
Last year, wildfires scorched nearly 9 million acres in the United States, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The agency’s annual report found that the number of wildfires reported in 2024 and the acres burned were both “noticeably higher than the five and 10-year averages.”
Studies have shown that climate change is not only making wildfires more frequent but also intensifying the blazes that do ignite, making them more destructive.
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