Well, the forests were always left alone - before civilization came.

In the 1830's there was a fire, probably caused by lightning, that took a couple of years to burn from California to the Mississippi River. I guess the Indians and wildlife just moved out of the way, no great harm done.

But those kind of fires are what's going to happen if you just leave things alone. We can't stand the damage that would cause now.

Trees are like any other crop - they need to be managed, cared for, and harvested or they'll be wasted.