Forest Fire: Help or Harm?

It is six o'clock at night when a forest ranger gets a call informing him or her that a fire has broken out in the forest. Should the ranger call the fire department to come extinguish the fire immediately, or should the ranger allow the fire to burn itself out? This question has been the topic of conversation for many years. However, during the years of 2001 and 2003, this question had become much more publicized due …

…best interests in mind. Americans must carefully allow fire to be restored to its prominent role as nature's cleansing agent. We, Americans, must learn to live with fire just as we live with the weather. Aldo Leopold warned that throwing nature out of balance would have untoward consequences (Trachtman: 46). He said, "A measure of success in this is all well enough, but too much safety seems to yield only danger in the long run" (Trachtman: 46).