How does wilderness influence fire management?
Once an area becomes wilderness, land managers can still use fire as a tool to restore fire-dependent ecosystems. This has the benefit of reducing potentially hazardous fuel levels. At the discretion of land managers using a previously approved fire plan, lightning fires may be allowed to burn so long as the fire does not exceed any of the speed or intensity levels outlined in the plan. If the fire exceeds these parameters, then the agency will aggressively attack it.
Land managers are allowed to use all available methods (including bulldozers and other heavy equipment) to suppress wildfires in wilderness if they feel human lives and property are threatened. If agency authorities deem them necessary, presuppression projects can also be undertaken in wilderness.
