After the devastation of Los Angeles communities, our national wildfire policies must focus on saving lives and neighborhoods from future fires, and rebuilding in a fire-safe way that prevents it from happening again. This is not just about Los Angeles, or California. It is about vulnerable communities across the nation, from arid regions of the western U.S. to parts of Florida, Appalachia, the New Jersey Pine Barrens and communities in between. The problem is that, as a society, we cannot seem to have that essential conversation. There is a sort of cultural anomaly that steers the discussion and the funding for wildfire policies toward “forest management.” This misdirection is putting lives and communities at risk. …Politicians: Knock it off with this dangerously misdirected narrative about forest management. …If you don’t focus on helping create fire-safe communities, the heartbreaking impacts that we witnessed in Los Angeles will happen again, and again, across the country.