Arizona PBS
May 7, 2021
Forestry experts believe one of the best ways to fight wildfires is to deprive them of fuel through forest thinning, as in this file photo from Oregon. Those efforts will get an extra hand this year in Arizona under an expanded program that will use prison inmates to help with forest maintenance. (Photo by Tracy Robillard,Natural Resources Conservation Service/Creative Commons)
WASHINGTON – It’s important to have boots on the ground when battling wildfires. And come July 1, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management will be able to start putting 1,400 more boots on the ground.