Large costly and damaging wildfires in southern California chaparral watersheds continue despite new technology and highly trained wildfire organizations. Because of effective fire suppression the average age of the chaparral continues to increase, becoming highly flammable after the age of 30 years. Decision makers want to manage the chaparral to maximize the multiple resource outputs. Wildlife managers and other resource specialists must quantify their resource outputs and be willing to financially support them. At this point fire specialists will redeem their responsibility as a service organization responding to meet resource outputs. It is estimated that on the Los Padres National Forest 30,000 acres of chaparral per year must be manipulated to meet resource output needs.
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