Shade-tolerant species are edging out stands of pine all over. . . . Fire suppression has created a landscape that is unhealthy and less productive. Babbitt was back in central Idaho last month, scouting 11 live fires in the Frank Church Wilderness Area. This sounds like a lot of land. But studies show that, left to the rules of nature, the majority of Western public lands, including rangelands, chaparral and ponderosa forests, burned every 10 to 50 years.
Public perception is a funny thing.
Ten years ago I would not have expected prescribed burning and other fire-management tools to become such mainstays. Perhaps I missed the hints. When most of Yellowstone was under siege that day, and the fire took on a militaristic force, I noticed a man standing out on the Madison River. He had entered the only corner of the park still open to the public. He had managed to slip away from the hot-spot helicopters, the fire crews and the debate about fire policy.