I remember climbing Sherman Pass in WA for the first time and stopping at an old burn area from a large fire. There were interpretive board explaining the benefits of fires. Burning away the old trees allows new ones to start growing. The new vegetation that springs up from the no longer canopy covered ground provides food for creatures such as deer. And woodpeckers and other types of birds thrive off the insects that that set up home in the brunt trees. Pretty neat. Neat enough that I stopped in a light snow to check it out.