From the text ... 'In the past, fire suppression was seen as a standard method for dealing with forest fires. Today, foresters view fire as an essential instrument of forest regeneration, contributing to a greater diversity of flora and fauna. 'Fire plays a natural role and we're trying to better understand this role to help improve forest management,' says Dr. Hawkes who works in the Fire Management Network at the Pacific Forestry Centre. To lessen human impact on forest ecosystems, more importance has been placed on creating managed forests that closely resemble natural forest. To that end, the challenge facing CFS [Canadian Forest Service] researchers today is how to sustain a viable forest industry while unpolding objectives for healthy, natural forests. To answer the question it becomes necessary to look at how forest ecosystems have been affected by fire within a particular landscape.'