I agree with you EastBay. The natural balance of the forest has been negatively affected by the " suppress quickly and at any cost " methods of the services that control wildland fires. I heard a report recently of a large helicopter that was going into service in the LA area for fire fighting. The Fire official talking on the radio report said that the fire service can best accomplish thier task with the use of these " tools " which allow them to get in quick and put out fires before they become a problem. The public basically wants fires put out as quick as possible and the Fire Services are responding to this in thier policies. Until the general public accepts that wildland fires should be left to burn except for protecting the perimiter of structures, these long standing ways of approaching fire suppression in wilderness areas will continue.