'Burn boss' arrest inflames Western land use tensions

This Dec. 7, 2016 photo, shows the entrance to the Malheur National Forest near John Day, Ore. Rick Snodgrass, the U.S. Forest Service “burn boss,” was arrested Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022, by a county sheriff after a planned burn at Malheur National Forest spread onto private land. He was conditionally released. Prescribed burns are set intentionally and under carefully controlled conditions to clear underbrush, pine needle beds and other surface fuels that make forests more prone to wildfires. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky, File)