Fly media and Audobon Canyon Ranch’s Fire Forward program director over the footprints of the Tubbs (2017), Nuns (2017), Kincade (2019), LNU Lightning Complex (2020), and Glass (2020) Fires. Show the good and bad effects of modern wildfires on ecosystems and people while highlighting wildfire solutions such as forest restoration. These flights were part of a collaborative communications project aimed at increasing media coverage of wildfire solutions and fire science in California.
Wildfire is a natural and essential part of California’s landscape, but modern wildfires are becoming more severe and more destructive due to the impacts of past land management, development, and climate change. Sonoma County has been one of the hardest hit parts of California during recent wildfire seasons. Since 2017, the area has experienced more than five major wildfires, which include the second most destructive (Tubbs Fire) and fifth largest (LNU Lightning Complex) wildfires in California history.