1.   Before a controlled burn can be set, officials have to work through a bureaucratic maze of public hearings and environmental studies.

2.   A federal government effort to thin dense pine forests with a controlled burn near Los Alamos, N.M., suddenly burst into a disastrous wild fire.

3.   A controlled burn set in the area last fall is credited with saving hundreds of homes from the Hayman wildfire.

4.   Controlled burns earn a bad reputation when firefighters lose control, such as what happened in May at Los Alamos, N.M., Hormaechea said.

5.   Controlled burns often are used by the Park Service to prevent worse forest fires later.

6.   Colorado opposed controlled burns last year because of air quality and safety concerns, said Sean Duffy, a spokesman for Gov. Owens.

7.   In the longleaf pine forest, a forester from the State Fish and Wildlife Service helps third graders saw young scrub oaks to prepare for a controlled burn.

8.   It would expand the current policy of controlled burns, fires deliberately set to reduce combustible underbrush and shrubs.

9.   Officials said recent controlled burns in the foothills or possibly older, more territorial mountain lions may have sent the big cat searching for a new hunting ground.

10.   Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties imposed outdoor burning bans in mid-January, though officials can grant special permission for controlled burns and families may hold barbecues.