Some of the environmental folk stubbornly hold to a wilderness ideal of a vast uninhabited area. But the facts are, people have been living here for more than 8,000 years. People with fire. And there is simply no way of knowing what large forest fires were caused by lightning and what were caused by people. Certainly, early white people observed the Indians setting fire to the woods to create blueberry areas and for other reasons.
Foresters have the expertise to burn forest areas where needed.
But foresters are prevented from setting such fires. Instead of being able to select the area, the time and the conditions which would be best for burning, they must wait for a random lightning strike and then determine if it should be allowed to burn or put out. In many cases, such lightning strikes are not where needed and often not when wanted. The U.S. Congress should remove the handcuffs from the foresters and allow them to set prescribed fires on the basis of their training and technology, not on the basis of theory from some well-meaning amateur forest theorists. The federal foresters know how to do it.