I’m not 100% sure but I think it likely is. The land is DFL, and I talked to the DNR guy about it and he was going on about fire, although he wasn’t 100% positive what this was about either. We also have hugely overzealous “fire wise” people in the county. The crazy thing is that by taking out the smaller trees and undergrowth they will likely increase the risk of fire if invasive grasses come in to colonize and then get dried out along with the soil. Since I’ve lived in this area, the only fires that have happened (other than house fires) have been in late summer in fields of dried out grasses, with a farm implement hitting a rock or some such to spark the fire. It’s the grasses!! And the wind. And with reduced undergrowth the wind will dry out the ground even faster.