The question of how to manage Indiana’s forests sparks some of the livelier and more contentious debates among local environmentalists. Many Midwestern forest managers want to utilize prescribed burning to root out invasive species, prevent wildfires and move forests toward what they see as ideal conditions. …Already the United States Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy use pre-planned, controlled burns set by professionals to alter the array of plants in Indiana ecosystems. …Yet, some environmentalists, who believe that forests should be left to their own devices, have in recent years mounted a protest against intensive forest management techniques like prescribed burning. …The practice of prescribed burning is far from new. …Many eastern hardwood forests were razed for agriculture, and Indiana forests have seen little fire over the past 100 or so years.