As this mosaic becomes more fragmented, this new focus becomes more important. It is the natural processes which have beauty, not the visual appearance. We have justified clearcutting because we told the public clearcutting was analogous to fires. It is not analogous to fires in many important ways. Fires leave behind remnants of the previous stand, and these remnants have great value to the ecosystem.
Fire leaves behind a mosaic with complex edges.
We need to understand more about the value of patchiness in the landscape mosaic. We must identify the desired future landscape mosaic.