Image: Prescribed fires light up Black Hills in South Dakota

NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of two prescribed fires named Long Draw and Apple Tree which were set in the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota.  Prescribed burns are used by local fire officials for many reasons.  After many years of fire exclusion, an ecosystem that needs periodic fire becomes unhealthy. Trees are stressed by overcrowding; fire-dependent species disappear; and flammable fuels build up and become hazardous. The right fire at the right place at the right time:

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