text: Eco-purists want no cutting, no thinning no using fire retardants in "sensitive" areas because the chemicals might get into streams that will be boiled away by conflagrations. They prevent homeowners from clearing brush around their homes, because it might provide cover or habitat for endangered species and other critters that will get incinerated or lose their forage, prey, and habitats in the next blaze. They rarely alter their policies during drought years.