Do they rake forests in your neck of the world, billy?
That's actually quite common. Or at least it used to be before the democrats all turned into morons. They thin out a lot of the small stuff and drag it into burn piles. Maybe sell some of it for pulp or posts and poles. Then burn off what's left in the winter when there's snowcover. That's how you get rid of the branches that are left over after a timber sale. Forest is a lot healthier afterwards. Stops bark beetle infestation. Democrats want forests to become overgrown brush thickets that are sick and half dead from insects so they can have million acre catastrophic fires they can whine about.
Don't know where the forests you describe exist.
I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. Before reagan allowed private companies to log our mountains so much that they literally left totally bare mountains for as far as the eye can see. Nothing left alive. The only time anyone pulled downed brush out in piles is when the logging companies have taken what they wanted and left without cleaning their mess and replanting.
For your information, the government allows people to go into the forest to harvest a certain amount of downed trees. My family built a 3 bedroom log house from a man who has a permit to go into the forest to harvest a certain amount of downed trees. That house was built in the 90s. That has been going on for decades. You have to put the big red permit on the front dashboard of the lead vehicle of your business. And they are only allowed to take a certain amount.
The reason that all isn't allowed to be taken is because if you take too much you will kill the forest. The downed tress and foliage create the forest floor. Where the trees get their food and nutrients. It also provides homes and food for other life in the forest. Like flying squirrels. They eat the acorns and pinecones on the forest floor and their feces fertilize the forest floor. Which keeps the trees healthy.
One of the biggest reasons for the trees being so easily burned is that logging. The second growth is much more susceptible to being burned than old growth because old growth has much older and thicker bark. Second growth has not had the time to create that thick bark to be more resistant to fires. Second growth also allows for the forest floor to become much more dry than an old growth forest. The old growth has formed a canopy over the forest floor which shields the snow from the sun and evaporation. A clear cut and second growth allows the snow and rain to evaporate into the air. So it doesn't get a chance to soak into the ground to keep it moist in the dry season. Nor can the snow naturally melt off to fill streams, rivers and lakes for humans to use. Most importantly for farmers to use to grow the food we eat.
The main reason for the fires all over the west is global climate change. We aren't getting the rain and snow we should have to keep our forest more resistant to fires in the summers.