I once worked a summer near the north rim of the Grand Canyon. The Forest Service on the the Kaibab plateau frequently did controlled burns throughout the summer to keep the ground free of fuel. It drove the tourists wild. We would often get frantic tourists screeching into the parking lot screaming that theres a forest fire. After a few times of trying to calmly explain it was part of the forest management system I gave up and directed them to the Forest Rangers down the road a bit.

These Fires are an excellent way to control forest Fires by burning deadwood and grasses on the ground, however they do have the side effect of causing lots of smoke. Once in a while they would even get out of control, but I think its better than letting the forest go pristine and accumulate all that fuel on the ground. Mother Nature might start a few fires here and there that burns a limited amount of fuel, but you have a potential powder keg if she gets lazy and you go a while in an area without any fires.

Also thinning a forest by logging utilizes a renewable resource. Allowing it to burn doesn't give humans the use of the wood. I am no fan of clear cutting swaths as are visible through the Snoqualimy Pass as you drive I-90 to or from Seattle. It is ugly, and appears to me to be cutting too much out at a time. I wish there were a more economical way to cut a forest in smaller chunks. But with the difficulties of transporting the logs out, I'm not sure there is.

This is a very interesting topic. It would be nice to get some experts to chime in on it.

-Steve G.