This is the new wildfire reality facing much of the West: it is nothing less than a forest health crisis. A healthy forest is resilient—capable of self-renewal following drought, wildfire, beetle outbreaks, and other forest stresses and disturbances—much as a healthy person stands a good chance of recovering from a disease or injury. Fire-adapted forests actually require frequent low-intensity wildland fire to stay healthy by keeping the number of trees and other plants in balance with scarce resources such as water, much as your own health depends on balances within your own body. Western fire-adapted forests at the lower elevations where most people live include ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests of pines, Douglas-fir, western larch, and grand fir.
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