what a surprise! bulldozers and backhoes and cranes and chainsaws and clearcuts (which is the timber industry version of *salvage* logging) don't help reforestation after fire. who'dathunkit?
--###--
originalOSU FOREST RESEARCHStudy strikes salvage logging beliefs
By
Greg BoltThe Register-Guard
Published: Friday, January 6, 2006A new study by Oregon State University researchers suggests that burned-over forests recover on their own as well or better than those that are logged and replanted.
What's more, it says salvage logging can increase fire danger rather than decrease it, at least in the short term.
The results run counter to what many forest scientists and logging companies have long believed. They have argued that salvage logging and replanting after a fire is necessary to restore forest health and reduce the risk of new fires that would destroy young trees.
A forest industry spokesman cautioned that the study only looked at a small area over a single year and said it is premature to draw conclusions from it. He said past history has shown that salvage logging and replanting lead to healthier forests. advertisement
The study results are being published today on the Science Express Web site and will be included in a future print edition of Science, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The lead author is OSU forestry graduate student Daniel Donato, who worked with fellow graduate student Joe Fontaine and three OSU researchers to analyze five plots burned in the 2002 Biscuit Fire in Southwestern Oregon.
What the researchers found was that even severely burned plots on steep slopes that were left alone after the fire regenerated naturally and produced as many or more seedlings of the desired species as forest management plans specified.
~snip~
.
.
.
--###
complete article
here
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
