As pinyon-juniper have increased their dominance throughout the Great Basin, other perennial plants have declined in abundance. Riparian areas traditionally have the greatest biodiversity found in the region. The increase of pinyon-juniper can generally be attributed to a change in the disturbance regime. To increase the plant diversity found in the riparian areas pinyon-juniper plants must be removed, but traditional methods, such as individual tree cutting, chaining, or herbicides, are not practical or acceptable in many cases. Fire has generally not been thought of as a viable alternative. A helitorch, with a fan nozzle, could be used to follow the riparian corridor and burn out pinyon-juniper trees when leaf moisture is lowest and weather conditions would restrict fire spread to just those trees where the fuel has been placed. Burned areas could be used to break up fuel continuity associated with mature pinyon-juniper communities. This would allow land managers to work with small areas to (1) break up fuel bed structure, (2) reestablish desired plants in both riparian and upland areas, and (3) enhance and restore plant diversity found in the Great Basin and Intermountain West.