Business Column: Drones planting trees in burned wildlands

While drones are coming of age in firefighting, they are also establishing a foothold in restoring fire-scorched forests.

Firefighting drones grabbed the spotlight last April 15 as viewers around the world watched Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris go up in flames. It has stood for over 850 years, through wars, natural disasters, and everything in between, including the fire.

At first, it appeared the iconic building would be completely destroyed; however, French firefighters used thermal vision drones to direct their hoses and get an upper hand of the situation. Notre Dame is massive and having a...