Helping western forests heal

whacking’ and forest burning that will only exacerbate the problem. I am not so naïve as to believe that science will drive the entire debate. But, having spent 25 years trying to advance the need for ecosystem restoration, I know that debate descends to paralysis when it begins with ideology. In the little time left, it is imperative that fuels treatments should be driven by ecological restoration principles; that scientists should actively inform the debate; that scientists, managers and the public should not be afraid to use what we currently know to identify restoration treatments; that all restoration should be conducted in an explicitly formal, adaptive management context; and that multiple approaches should be tested and carefully monitored.