This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

As of this writing, the Brian Head Fire continues to burn intensely. Our deepest sympathies go out to those who have lost homes in the fire, and our gratitude to the firefighters who are risking their safety and their lives to bring the fire under control.

In the midst of this fire, Rep. Mike Noel has done what politicians often do during fire season – recklessly fan the political flames. Going before TV cameras, Noel claimed that legal appeals had prevented logging of the forest, and that environmentalists, including the Grand Canyon Trust, were responsible for the fire. He concluded, "When we turned over the Forest Service to the bird and bunny lovers, the tree huggers, and rock lickers, we lost our history."

The Grand Canyon Trust has never litigated a forest-thinning project in the Dixie National Forest, so not only was Noel's claim completely false, it deflected attention from the real causes of extreme fires in the Southwest and the potential management solutions.

Over the last two decades, our staff have worked closely with many others – state and local officials, federal land managers, community members and sportsmen – to launch and help lead forest restoration efforts across the region. In all cases, the intent is to restore forest health, protect clean water and key wildlife habitat and shield communities from wildfire. Today, we help lead the collaborative Monroe Mountain project in Utah, and the nation's largest collaborative forest restoration effort – the Four Forest Restoration Initiative – in northern Arizona.

Through these efforts we and others have learned many things about forest management and fire. Above all, we have learned that one-size-fits-all approaches to forest and fire management don't work. Lower elevation ponderosa pine forests often need small tree thinning and reintroduction of low-intensity fire – sometimes at large scales – to restore forest health and prevent much larger, more intense wildfires. Higher elevation forests, like those around Brian Head, represent a different challenge. In anything resembling a natural state (appreciated by not only bird and bunny lovers, but also by deer, elk and fish lovers), these forests burn more intensely – and always will – thus requiring homeowners and communities to do everything they can to minimize future developments in these fire-prone areas, and ensure that existing developments are adequately prepared for wildfire.

We have learned that a whole host of challenges face us as we confront forest management in the Southwest. A century of fire suppression was well-intentioned but misguided and disastrous in its effects. Global warming will exacerbate wildfire challenges. And seemingly simple solutions like removing insect-killed trees are never as simple as they seem and often cause more harm to forests than good.

Over the course of two decades, we have come to know that National Environmental Policy Act-prescribed public involvement in forest management discussions is a good thing, and that, working together, stakeholders with seemingly disparate perspectives, ideologies and worldviews can generate durable solutions across vast landscapes that keep forests healthy and protect communities.

Lastly, we have experienced time and again the kind of divisiveness, demagoguery and political profiteering practiced by Mr. Noel and other politicians during fire season, and we know that it often hurts those who need real solutions most.

Wildfires often bring out the best in us – a sense of compassion, a renewed commitment to work together to find solutions to vexing problems, a sense of common purpose and civic virtue. It will take this, the best part of us, to meet the forest and fire management challenges that lie ahead.

Ethan Aumack is the conservation director at the Grand Canyon Trust, where he has worked on forest restoration since 1999.