Historically, Oregon forests have never been free of fire. In fact, fire can have a vital role in forest health. The aggressive suppression of fire over the last 100 years—combined with the past practice of removing some large fire-resistant (thick-barked) trees and inadequate thinning—has doubled the potential for high-severity fires in forests that historically exhibited low-severity fire patterns. Today more than a third of Oregon’s forests are at high risk of severe wildfires that are outside the historical norm. There is disagreement over the best way to address the problem, but most experts feel that current conditions call for active management, including varying combinations of thinning, fuel removal and prescribed burning.