Researchers across Canada have released a new study on the 2023 wildfire season classifying it as a record-breaking year across the nation. An early wildfire season has had “profound” impacts on Canadians, from health issues due to mass amounts of smoke to record-breaking evacuations. Ellen Whitman, a forest fire research scientist with NRCan, and one of the authors of the new study… said the residual impacts of the 2023 season will make the 2024 wildfire season in Alberta challenging due to the lack of recovery from the drought. …With low snowpacks throughout western Canada, Whitman anticipates the most challenging aspect of the 2024 wildfire season is the lack of recovery from the 2023 drought. …After experiencing a wildfire season like 2023, Whitman says communities need to be more proactive, citing the benefit to fuel mitigation around communities, whether through fire smart thinning of prescribed burning or trying to get ahead of the problem by treating the landscape.