In the northeast, the forests we see are actually cultivated, and much that is deciduous would become pine forest with impassable underbrush without human intervention.
Prevention of wildfires requires human intervention and brush clearing. I believe this is a factor right now in California.
The Great Plains is largely cultivated, and without proper maintenance is shrinking.
Some people theorize that much of the lush vegetation European settlers saw in New England was actually human cultivation, that was left untended due to mass smallpox deaths.
Strategic neglect is a strategy, but when applied naively you may not end up with the ecosystem you wanted.
> Prevention of wildfires requires human intervention and brush clearing. I believe this is a factor right now in California
Prevention of all wildfires requires intervention, but the natural state is lots of small fires and that actually results in fewer huge fires, so “neglect” is a valid strategy. Unfortunately it’s hard to do proscribed burns to “catch up” to the natural state as they are unpopular.
Wildfires are the natural earth's own clearing process, returning carbon harvested by the trees to the soil. It's only a negative thing because it effects us.
