Study: Salvage Logging, Replanting Worsen Fire Danger

[guruoo]

Study: Salvage Logging, Replanting Worse

By JEFF BARNARD

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- Logging dead trees after a wildfire and planting new ones
can make future fires worse, at least for a decade or two while the young trees create
a volatile source of fuel, scientists found in a study that contradicts conventional
practices.

The findings by scientists from the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon State University and
published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal raise
questions about the long-standing practice of salvage logging on national forests.

The study, the first of its kind, comes at a time when global warming is expected to
increase the size and numbers of wildfires and the annual cost of fighting them is
running around $1 billion.

...

"It was the conventional wisdom that salvage logging and planting could reduce the
risk of high-severity fires," said Jonathan R. Thompson, a doctoral candidate at
Oregon State and the study's lead author. "Our data suggest otherwise."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WILDFIRE_LOGGING?SITE=TNCLA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[XemaSab]

1. Not a shocker

k&r

[NCarolinawoman]

3. Yep, seems like the more we "tinker" with Mother Nature, the worse things get.

Kind of like New Orleans when they decided to "play around" with the wetlands.

[Erika]

2. Replanting often consists of trees foreign to the region

They are not suitable to the environment and will not do well but are fast growing and easily harvested.

In essence, screwing Mother nature.

[sutz12]

4. The unspoken words here, then....are tree farming isn't good for the forests.

[xchrom]

5. kick

[TrogL]

6. Meet Mark Rey

http://www.nativeforest.org/campaigns/public_lands/rey_5_30_02.htm

Apparently he just wants to cut them down, pick out the good ones and leave the rest to rot.

All this clearing out the deadwood and replanting is for sissies.

[depakid]

7. Replanting with a monoculture also creates a risk of infestation

and disease.