Each year, fires burn millions of acres of forest worldwide. The resulting loss and degradation of forested land has wide-reaching consequences on biodiversity, health and the economy. All forest fires are not bad, however, and play a natural part of the health of an ecosystem. In fact, fire is essential for forest regeneration and provides tangible benefits for local communities. In other cases, fire destroys forests, causing dire social and economic consequences.

Such was the case on September 14, 2007, when the Butler 2 forest fire ignited from a lightening storm, burning the forested mountains of the San Bernardino Forest for six days and affecting more than 14,600 acres. While some of the burned areas are expected to recover on their own, the intense fire deforested nearly 80 percent of the land, leaving few seed-producing trees left to regenerate the forest.