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Public and agency attitudes toward the use of fire change slowly. 

 The agencies have made a concerted effort to expand Rx fire 

 programs in the last decade. They should be commended for that 

 effort, but they must Rx burn more acres. We must develop 

 landscape Rx burn plans and implement them. As yet, we are not 

 burning enough acres across the landscape to reduce the size, 

 damage, and expense of the catastrophic wildfires. 



6. What are the shortcomings of using fire as a management tool? 

 Are there risks? Please explain. 



Like any management tool, Rx fire has shortcomings. Probably, the 

 two most obvious are smoke and the possibility of escape. It is true 

 that wildfires produce much more smoke and for a longer time, but 

 Rx fires also produce smoke. People do not like smoke. 



Rx fire is not as precise as some managers would like, and there is a 

 risk of not achieving the desired result, or worse yet, the fire may 

 escape confinement from public lands. 



Risk is relative. Compared to the damage and expense of large 

 wildfires, the damage and cost from lower intensity fires set under 

 prescribed conditions is much less. However, if someone is harmed, 

 or if private property is burned by Rx fire, then the agency is liable. 

 Currently, agencies are not liable if property or human life is harmed 

 because of wildfire. 



I think we need additional, highly skilled Rx fire managers, and more 

 training for risk adverse forest managers. After all, trees killed by Rx 

 fire will surely be killed by wildfire and the acres burned by wildfire 

 will be greater. 



7. Salvage logging has been advocated by the industry as a key to 

 solving the dense stocking problem. How and where can logging 

 best be employed to help the forests? 



Salvage logging treatments are intended to capture the economic 

 value of dead timber and are not usually done for the purpose of 



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