Some national and global studies suggest that conditions favorable for wildfire will increase, but few studies have specifically looked at wildfire risk in the Mid-Atlantic region. The duration of the fire season in the Mid-Atlantic region is closely linked with increases in average temperature during the summer (Liu et al. 2010). If drought or prolonged dry periods increase in this region as expected, fire risk will increase in both forests and local communities. For example, abnormally dry conditions in 2016 resulted in widespread wildfires across 17,000 acres and damaged or destroyed nearly 2,500 structures near Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Interactions between complex patterns of land use and ownership, forest fragmentation, and both human and natural ignition sources, may ultimately determine how an increase in fire weather conditions might be manifested (Clark et al. 2013).