Fires are crucial and necessary for the wilderness and for big game.
Humans are the ones who have the biggest problem with forest fires.
At the peak of last summer's fires, several million acres were ablaze in 13 Western states as incredibly dry weather and high winds combined to create perfect conditions for roughly 79,000 individual fires. The immediate effects of these fires on hunters and big game have resulted in changes in hunting seasons in some states, and the displacement of some big-game animals, mainly elk. In the long run, however, these fires will prove beneficial, if we heed their lesson. They looked like they got trapped by fire. Gary Butler, habitat supervisor for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, concurs that big game escaped the fires in his state.