I discuss the origin of the idea that our forests are now “out of whack” and in need of restoration. I then describe the typical field methods based on fire scar records that are used to discern past environments and why they have serious limitations. Results from fire-scar studies are frequently extrapolated too far outside the forest types from which they were obtained. I suggest that we need to pay more attention to alternative methods (i.e., ecological methods based on information from plants and animals) that can be used to uncover past environments.