Man has had much interaction with the forests for decades in AZ, Colorado, NM and even Alaska. Most of the current fires are lightening started (yes, some remain man caused though), but the difference is, environmental laws now protect the forests, there is much less logging going on and therefore, more timber and the associated undergrowth building up. Forest fires are mother nature's way of cleaning that out. The damn eco-nazis are trying to protect the wilderness so adamantly, they are by indirect effect, the cause of the increase in wildfires.
Oh, Chris, I like AZ's laws, on my facebook page, I'm one of the big supporters of Gov Jan Brewer's stand on that. But now we have our own female gov that has bigger huevos than our past govs... she is vowing to chase out the illegals and build up the border too, now if we could only get rid of the liberal senators and few congressmen we have...(too many welfare voters in our state though..)...
Maybe I'll just move to AZ after my kids graduate...(used to live in Tempe before anyway)...

Arctic Cat Prowler Desert Race XTZ: ITP BajaCross tires on ITP Beadlocks, Beard Super TZ Seats, Crowe 5pt harnesses, King Off-Road Racing Shocks, Custom Racing Chassis with 7 inch longer wheelbase, +5 Suspension set at 16 Front and 17 inches Rear inches travel, UTVINC did the tube bending
TEAM PROWLER NATION...