The weeks of smoke and fire over the summer did more than torch some trees. They also touched off a renewed debate about the best way to manage forests so that fires are less of an issue and less destructive.
Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon's 2nd Congressional District helped pass the "Resilient Federal Forests Act" in the House (Senate action is pending).
One of its features: a mechanism to pre-empt appeals and get salvage logging done faster.
Active management has the support of Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities, an advocacy group. Executive Director Nick Smith visits to flesh out the view.