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When lightning started the Jack Wood Fire late last month in the Coronado National Forest, firefighters took what they hope will become a much more beneficial tactic: They didn't fully fight it.

Years ago, they might have done that, leaving a wake of charred material ripe for future, more intense fires. These days, firefighters have more options when they're dealing with a fire that started naturally — for example, by lightning.

Officials with the forest adopted a new tactic in fighting wildfires a few years ago, a policy called Wildland Fire Use, which basically means that if the conditions are right, they will let a naturally ignited fire burn.

While it might seem contradictory, such burns play a critical role in wildlands by recycling nutrients, regenerating plants and reducing high concentrations of fuels that contribute to aggressive and disastrous fires.

The Jack Wood Fire in the southern Chiricahuas and the Redington Fire in the western Galiuro Mountains were the first real tests of the policy.

Almost 10,000 acres burned in the lightning-ignited fires. Benefits to the ecosystem included reduction of woody shrubs, an eventual increase in grass and herbaceous vegetation, and an improvement in wildlife habitat, said Randall Smith, a forest restoration officer for the Coronado Forest.

Coronado amended its Land and Resource Management Plan to include the new policy in 2005. In 2006, officials allowed seven fires to burn, for a total of 343 acres. Last year, that went up to 1,379 acres. During the last few years, officials say, they've become more comfortable with the process.

"The Jack Wood Fire was a very successful burn," Smith said. "It was as good as or better than one of our best prescribed burns."

But managing a fire this way isn't as simple as just letting it burn, said Pete Gordon, a fire staff officer for the Coronado Forest. Extensive thought, expert decisions and specialized work all contribute to dealing with a naturally ignited fire.

Gordon is concerned that the public has a misconception of the practice.

"A lot of planning and management goes into it. We are not just letting it go," he said. "Yes, the amount of acreage has increased, but it also has a lot to do with opportunity. It doesn't matter what we call the fire; there are many strategies available to us. With the Jack Wood Fire, we had the same toolbox of strategies and tactics."

Even luck, he said, figures into the equation. One reason officials were able to let the Jack Wood Fire burn 8,000 acres was because of its isolation from structures and humans, said Kris Condos, an assistant fire management officer for the Coronado Forest.

Weather also was a factor.

"We knew the monsoon was coming," Condos said. "If it had happened in the beginning of June, we probably wouldn't have done it."

It wasn't so long ago that fire officials everywhere were forced to fully suppress a fire, whether it was human- or naturally caused. That approach could result in an ecosystem with poorer habitat or less food for wildlife. That, in turn, meant fewer and less-diverse species, Smith said.

The aggressive suppression of fire has allowed the unnatural growth of dense vegetation, resulting in more intense fires, said Tom Swetnam, director of the University of Arizona's Laboratory of Tree Ring Research.

Lower-severity surface fires, such as the Jack Wood, allow forests to be much more resilient to future droughts and wildfires, he said.

The federal government started moving in this direction after a particularly intense fire season in 2000. It enacted the National Fire Plan of 2001, which encouraged Wildland Fire Use when appropriate.

"I'm very supportive of Wildland Fire Use," Swetnam said. "We need to restore fire to its natural role. The conundrum is that people are living in these places. But there are huge amounts of area in Coronado that can be treated with Wildland Fire Use.

"The issue is not, will there be fire? There will be fire," he said. "We wouldn't have these forests if it weren't for fire."

More tangible results of the let-burn policy can be seen anywhere between three to 12 years after a blaze, resulting in an ecosystem with a food supply that nurtures and attracts diverse wildlife, Smith said

"(This is) nature taking its course, and that's what we're trying to mimic. Nature has a way of keeping things healthy that to us might be horrifying," Condos said.

More than 300 fires continue to burn across California. Page A2