[MCN] Wall Street Journal : Chief U.S. Forester Thinks Some Fires Should Be Left to Burn

[Lance Olsen]

The Wall Street Journal Oct. 5, 2019 12:01 am ET

Chief U.S. Forester Vicki Christiansen Thinks Some Fires Should Be Left to Burn
The Forest Service’s leader faces a growing challenge: ever more American homes built in areas that rely on fire as a natural part of their ecosystems
By Chris Kornelis

Only you can prevent forest fires, as the old television ad said, but the nation’s top forester wants to let a few burn.

A raging fire tends to be seen as a disaster, even a failure of forest management. But Vicki Christiansen—the chief of the U.S. Forest Service, who spent 26 years as a wildland firefighter—says that fire is an essential part of many landscapes’ natural ecosystems. Not only would it be impossible to suppress every blaze, she wouldn’t do it if she could. Forest fire, she says, is something the nation has to...

The rest is behind paywall here

https://www.wsj.com/articles/chief-u-s-forester-vicki-christiansen-thinks-some-fires-should-be-left-to-burn-11570248061? <https://www.wsj.com/articles/chief-u-s-forester-vicki-christiansen-thinks-some-fires-should-be-left-to-burn-11570248061?>
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