This feature explores topics of enduring ecological concern – fire regimes, climate change, and forest management of the North American West. The authors describe the dual challenges of past forest management legacies and fire exclusion confronted by a changing fire regime due to the coupling of stark climatic changes and abundant fuels. They argue for intentional management to create more drought- and fire-resilient forests, emphasizing key forest characteristics that conserve biodiversity and ecosystem values, while recognizing that this implies the use of mechanical thinning, prescribed burning and managed wildfire as tools.