In 2020 alone, wildfires burned over 10 million acres in the U.S., destroying homes and communities, and iconic places like Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and old-growth giant Sequoia in California. Are we going to let these large, out-of-control fires decimate our communities? Or will we learn from the original stewards of our lands? In this counterintuitive talk, fire ecologist & former wildland firefighter Camille Stevens-Rumann explains why we should invite fire back into our lives.

Camille Stevens-Rumann is a fire ecologist & faculty member in the Forest and Rangeland Stewardship department at Colorado State University, as well the Assistant Director of the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute. She started working in fire ecology after being a wildland firefighter and now her research focus is primarily on post-fire recovery. She has two children who get to tromp around many forests with her. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx