TLDR:<p>current environmental laws (Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, and National Environmental Policy Act) make it extremely difficult to do controlled burns because they<p>(a) treat controlled burns as "human activity" requiring extensive review/permits<p>(b) make it easier for agencies to do nothing than to conduct preventive burns<p>(c) create major hurdles around air quality regulations, especially near cities<p>(d) paradoxically incentivize waiting for emergency wildfires, which are exempt from these regulations.<p>The authors argue these laws need reform to recognize fire as a natural process rather than treating it as human interference requiring heavy regulation.