https://www.perc.org/2021/04/12/fix-americas-forests-reforms-to-restore-national-forests-and-tackle-the-wildfire-crisis/

Across the West, more than 10 million acres burned in 2020—a record in modern history. These fires consumed more than 17,500 structures and more than $3.5 billion in firefighting costs.Tragically, dozens of lives were lost, and many more people were displaced by evacuation orders. Fires released smoke that degraded air quality nearby and hundreds of miles away. They also destroyed wildlife habitat, including for imperiled species, and the fires’ aftereffects will soon lead to erosion that harms water quality in local watersheds. 

1925  View of virgin longleaf pine forest, 8 miles S.W. of Elizabeth, Louisiana, owned by Industrial Lumber Company