Forest Service fire costs are exploding, having quintupled since the early 1990s to $2 billion a year today. There is no sign that all of this spending is significantly improving forest health or protecting homes on adjacent private lands, and an increasing amount of research indicates that much of it is not even necessary. Cato Institute Senior Fellow Randal O’Toole addressed those concerns at a policy forum entitled “The Perfect Firestorm: Controlling Forest Service Wildfire Costs.”

(See the full event: The Perfect Firestorm: Controlling Forest Service Wildfire Costs.)