I saw a sign last February for a fire prevention meeting with the Bureau of Land Management in our rural Castle Valley of southeastern Utah. At the meeting, the BLM told us they were going to issue an environmental assessment for removing up to 75% of the pinyon and juniper trees on 1,300 acres in the valley to protect our town from wildfire. A public comment period would start soon.
Within a few days, a half dozen of us set out to look at the areas mapped for removal of pinyon (of 4 inches or less in diameter) and juniper (of 8 inches or less in diameter).