Wildfire smoke & what it’s doing to our bodies  

An alarming new investigation by The Atlantic highlights what scientists are only beginning to understand about wildfire smoke, and it’s confirming what other research has shown about how dangerous wood smoke is. In Seeley Lake, Montana, residents exposed to nearly two months of heavy wildfire smoke saw delayed but significant declines in lung function—nearly half had abnormal lung health a year later, with lingering damage two years on.

Wildfire smoke exposure is no longer a rare event. It’s reversing decades of air quality progress across the U.S. and has become the nation’s leading source of air pollution. Scientists are linking repeated smoke exposure to heart disease, neurological conditions like Parkinson’s, infertility, and even impacts on child development, including smaller, stiffer lungs and impaired immune systems.

What’s worse? Public land agencies like The Forest Service and BLM are adding to the problem by outdated and misrepresented “fire prevention.” Their widespread use of prescribed burns and slash pile burning releases massive amounts of dangerous wood smoke, the most toxic air pollution the average person ever inhales. In fact, smoldering burns like these often produce more fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) per acre than wildfires themselves. The EPA estimates prescribed burns now contribute nearly as much PM2.5 pollution nationwide as wildfires do.

Yet there’s little evidence these strategies actually prevent large fires. Instead, they destroy living forests that naturally filter pollution, sequester carbon, and regulate moisture, making communities more vulnerable to wildfire. Research shows that forest thinning increases local temperatures, wind speeds, and flammable grasses, all while reducing carbon absorption and inviting invasive species like cheatgrass.

The Forest Service’s outdated “overgrowth” narrative ignores the reality that the most resilient forests are often those left untouched. Meanwhile, under extreme conditions fueled by climate change, wildfires can easily jump past thinned areas or burn through them entirely.

The science is clear that wildfire smoke poses a growing public health crisis, but policies meant to “manage” forests often worsen both air pollution and wildfire risk. We need forest strategies grounded in climate science, not short-term, high-pollution tactics that gamble with our health.

Click here for more on UPHE’s fire management stance, and why.