[mancy00]

This is just awful, but it's pretty clear the forests of the Western US are doomed. It just makes me sad, as I remember those forests from my youth, when they were still vibrant and healthy. 50 years is a long time in a human's life, but it's just a moment in the life of a forest.

[cameron_b]

A lot of forest managers are in agreement with the assertion at the end of the article, that if smaller fires are allowed to clear underbrush and are not squashed for squashing's sake, then there will be fewer mega-fires.

That a more natural "fire is part of the landscape" approach is the key to preserving a landscape built by fire. It may not settle on what it looks like right now, but the American west has been fire-managed as far back as people have been talking about it, before it was written.