Arizona Fire, Still Growing, Ignites Debate Over Forest Management

William Wallace Covington, director of the Ecological Restoration Institute at Northern Arizona University

The mammoth Wallow fire in Arizona is set to cross the border into New Mexico and on the path to becoming the largest fire in Arizona history. Four of the worst fires in Arizona have happened in the last ten years, and the head of the U.S. Forest service says to expect more fires like that across the West.

William Wallace Covington of Northern Arizona University has been studying three different patches of Arizona forest for decades. He says there are just too many trees for the climate in the West. He is advocating for the U.S. to recreate an "ecological" logging industry to restore the traditional landscape.