Studies at odds over logging after wildfires
By Patrick O'Driscoll, USA TODAY
Dueling studies released Tuesday are stirring debate over whether logging after wildfires in the West helps or hurts the regrowth of forests.
The American Land Alliance, a coalition that lobbies for forest protections, said cutting dead or dying trees in burn zones degrades the ground, fouls streams, worsens fire risk, destroys wildlife habitat and wastes tax dollars.
The Society of American Foresters, which represents forest managers and researchers, said excessive environmental reviews, appeals and lawsuits waste valuable timber and postpone forest recovery for decades. The society urged Congress to streamline the process.
The opposing papers were released as an Oregon congressman, Republican Rep. Greg Walden (news, bio, voting record), prepares to introduce legislation this week that would speed up logging after "catastrophic events," such as wildfires, bug infestations and hurricanes.
An average of 6.5 million acres of public land - an area the size of Massachusetts - has burned annually in wildfires since 2000. Most of the fires were in the West. Some sites were logged soon afterward, but other attempts were blocked by appeals or lawsuits. A Government Accountability Office study last spring reported a 900,000-acre backlog of forest areas needing to be restored.
Walden, whose district includes much of Oregon's timber industry, said in a speech last month that Hurricane Katrina damaged enough timber to build 800,000 houses and make 25 million tons of paper. Federal law allows for faster harvest of such downed trees through streamlined procedures, but it doesn't cover standing trees, which are numerous in areas damaged by wildfire.
"We need to move more rapidly, but in an environmentally sensitive way," Walden said this week.
Lisa Dix of the lands alliance said Walden's bill could "sweep aside" safeguards for land, water and wildlife. She said "industrial-style replanting" after logging would make future forests look like rows of crops.
U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., a co-sponsor of Walden's bill, said replanting would be in "diverse, natural" patterns. He also said any roads built for salvage work would have to be removed immediately afterward.
The land alliance notes the natural recovery of Yellowstone National Park since wildfires in 1988. About one-third of the park burned that summer. Today, most of the landscape thrives.
The society of foresters cites a different success: the recovery of private forests that were quickly replanted after Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980. One photo in the group's report shows green forests beside federal tracts still brown wastelands 25 years later.
By Patrick O'Driscoll, USA TODAY
Dueling studies released Tuesday are stirring debate over whether logging after wildfires in the West helps or hurts the regrowth of forests.
The American Land Alliance, a coalition that lobbies for forest protections, said cutting dead or dying trees in burn zones degrades the ground, fouls streams, worsens fire risk, destroys wildlife habitat and wastes tax dollars.
The Society of American Foresters, which represents forest managers and researchers, said excessive environmental reviews, appeals and lawsuits waste valuable timber and postpone forest recovery for decades. The society urged Congress to streamline the process.
The opposing papers were released as an Oregon congressman, Republican Rep. Greg Walden (news, bio, voting record), prepares to introduce legislation this week that would speed up logging after "catastrophic events," such as wildfires, bug infestations and hurricanes.
An average of 6.5 million acres of public land - an area the size of Massachusetts - has burned annually in wildfires since 2000. Most of the fires were in the West. Some sites were logged soon afterward, but other attempts were blocked by appeals or lawsuits. A Government Accountability Office study last spring reported a 900,000-acre backlog of forest areas needing to be restored.
Walden, whose district includes much of Oregon's timber industry, said in a speech last month that Hurricane Katrina damaged enough timber to build 800,000 houses and make 25 million tons of paper. Federal law allows for faster harvest of such downed trees through streamlined procedures, but it doesn't cover standing trees, which are numerous in areas damaged by wildfire.
"We need to move more rapidly, but in an environmentally sensitive way," Walden said this week.
Lisa Dix of the lands alliance said Walden's bill could "sweep aside" safeguards for land, water and wildlife. She said "industrial-style replanting" after logging would make future forests look like rows of crops.
U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., a co-sponsor of Walden's bill, said replanting would be in "diverse, natural" patterns. He also said any roads built for salvage work would have to be removed immediately afterward.
The land alliance notes the natural recovery of Yellowstone National Park since wildfires in 1988. About one-third of the park burned that summer. Today, most of the landscape thrives.
The society of foresters cites a different success: the recovery of private forests that were quickly replanted after Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980. One photo in the group's report shows green forests beside federal tracts still brown wastelands 25 years later.
