Erratic fire behavior and weather heighten need for forest restoration

Brought to the public's attention by a raging wildfire season in the west, experts say a combination of decades of vigorous fire suppression and the waning of the timber industry over environmental concerns has left many forests a tangled, overgrown mess. This has made them subject to the kind of super-fires that are now regularly consuming hundreds of homes and millions of acres. The Forest Service is on a mission to set the clock back to zero and the urgency couldn't be greater, Tom Tidwell said. The plan calls for accelerating restoration programs — everything from prescribed fire and mechanical thinning — by 20 percent each year in key areas that are facing the greatest danger of a catastrophic fire.