On June 14, 2009, a lightning strike started the Bridge Fire that burned 3,947 acres in Bryce Canyon National Park and Dixie National Forest. Years of fire suppression had created a crowded, diseased, and less diverse forest. As the fire, a natural agent in the ecosystem, moved through this area, the forest was reborn. After the fire, nutrients were recycled back into the soil, sunlight reached the ground, and a variety of species returned. It may look like destruction, but a closer look reveals new growth. Fire plays an essential role in forest health and regeneration.