Over the last two decades, increasingly severe fire seasons have led policymakers to recognize the need for thinning overgrown stands of trees.

However, thinning presents a financial challenge. The problem is that hazardous fuel reduction projects —especially projects in the Wildland/Urban Interface— contain mostly smaller trees, which have traditionally lacked market value. Since these projects can’t pay for themselves, managers have been looking for ways to reduce the net costs of fuel reduction projects.

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