fire

With drought throughout much of the U.S. West, the Forest Service will temporarily stop its use of prescribed burns and conduct a 90-day review of the practice, said Chief Randy Moore. The Forest Service has identified an escaped prescribed fire as the cause of the Hermits Peak Fire in New Mexico, reported the news and opinion site Wildfire Today.

Interior Secretary and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue advocated the thinning of forests and removing brush to eliminate fuel for wildfies during a roundtable discussion in northern California, said the Redding Record Searchlight. The cabinet members said thinning the tree stands in foressts did not mean clear cutting the land.