With over 7,600 wildfire incidents and 2.2 million acres of forestland burned in California as of early September, it is understandable how some private forest landowners might feel both paralyzed and spurred into forest management activity at the same time. Yet even in these times of extreme weather and fire behavior, it is important to consider managing your forest, both before and after wildfire effects your forestland.

We know that California forest are fire-adapted systems. However, issues such as decades of fire suppression, the conversion of shrub habitats to conifer thickets, and the reduction and loss of both mountain meadows and more open forested habitats, have led to a...