Over the past several years, urban areas in western states have experienced devastation from wild fire. As fire season approaches again, it is important to question our cultural relationship with fire. In this podcast, we speak with Mark Hedrick, who served nearly twenty years with the Nature Conservancy as Preserve Steward and Fire Manager. His experience managing prescribed burns demonstrates how with cooperation, training and careful planning, fire can be applied to reduce risk of catastrophic fires while improving ecological conditions, even in overgrown and developed areas.