The California Experiment

 As is well-known, the great Poobahs of Californian have chosen a course in managing their woodlands to allow naturally fallen trees to rot in place, thereby allowing them to become fertilizer for succeeding generations of forests.  Sounds great.  I like the idea.  

BUT, these fallen and rotting trees then became kindling for any random lightening strike, thereby setting fires and destroying many healthy trees. This is what's happened in California.  

This was Mother Nature's original solution to forest management for all of time.  It is conjectured that prior to man, forest fires were most frequent, and the people living in them were under constant threat. Modern forest management seeks to clear undergrowth, thereby making forests less vulnerable to fires.  California says no to this. 

Go figure. 

Pristine nature creates forests.
Forests burn all the time.
Man learns to clear forests.
Man unlearns forest clearing.
Forests burn all the time.
Return to pristine nature.