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WEST END, N.C. - Jesse Wimberley burns the woods with neighbors. Using new tools to revive an old communal tradition, they set fire to wiregrasses and forest debris with a drip torch, corralling embers with leaf blowers. Wimberley, 65, gathers …

WEST END, N.C. — Jesse Wimberley burns the woods with neighbors.

As the U.S. tries to restore a key forest ecosystem in the Southeast, landowners must light more fires on private property. The so-called “prescribed burns” are key to clearing forest debris and allowing pine cones to drop seeds onto the floor. That's important for longleaf pine, a resilient tree species that evolved in a natural fire cycle. Forestry experts say volunteer prescribed burn associations are spreading the practice to private landowners, who are crucial to the restoration and unreached by many agencies.

As the U.S. tries to restore a key forest ecosystem in the Southeast, landowners must light more fires on private property. The so-called “prescribed burns” are key to clearing forest debris and allowing pine cones to drop seeds onto the floor. That's important for longleaf pine, a resilient tree species that evolved in a natural fire cycle. Forestry experts say volunteer prescribed burn associations are spreading the practice to private landowners, who are crucial to the restoration and unreached by many agencies. A North Carolina group finds the practice draws people closer to th...