The guest editorial by Philip Higuera et al., in the Oct. 28 issue of the Chronicle made a strong case for the use of wildfire as a forest management tool. With the current growing awareness of global warming tied to the increasing incidence of forest fires, I would add another, albeit small, dimension to the discussion. Dwarf mistletoes are major forest pests of most of the conifer forests in western North America. As the conifer forests spread northward following recession of the Pleistocene glaciation, naturally occurring, and prehistoric human-initiated, fires certainly reduced the distribution of dwarf mistletoe infections. What might have happened in the absence of fire was readily visible in Yellowstone National Park prior to the massive fires in 1988. …Fire used as a management tool is essential to maintain clean forests to ensure quality timber production.