NATION : Interior Drops ‘Let It Burn’ Guideline
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WASHINGTON — The Interior Department ordered a strict fire-control plan for national parks and wilderness areas today, at least temporarily abandoning the “let it burn” philosophy that allowed fires to devastate thousands of acres in Yellowstone National Park last summer.
The joint directive, embracing a task force report, was issued by Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Clayton K. Yeutter, whose department has jurisdiction over national forests.
The task force, which was called to review federal fire management policies after last summer’s fires at Yellowstone, concluded that there are environmental benefits to allowing controlled fires, but that greater assurances must be shown that a fire cannot get out of control before it is allowed to burn.
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