Prescribed Fire at Sunset in the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico

Sunset as seen through the smoke of a prescribed burn in the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico. The burn was conducted to restore fire as an ecosystem process and reduce hazardous tree densities and fuel loads due to more than 100 years of fire suppression. Foreground trees (Douglas-fir and aspen) were killed during the Cerro Grande fire in 2000. Forest drought stress is strongly correlated with tree mortality from poor growth, bark beetle outbreaks, and high-severity fire.