September 2, 2008
Following the 2007 summer fires, at the behest of the timber industry, the Forest Service immediately started planning "salvage" old-growth timber sales on steep slopes located above salmon-bearing streams in northern California. Klamath-Siskyou WIldlands Center (KS Wild) spent many hours in the field reading reports and communicating scientific proof to the Forest Service that post-fire logging is more harmful than helpful. We are happy to report that the Klamath and Shasta-Trinity National Forests announced in early July that they are canceling three post-fire timber sales, two near Happy Camp and one near McCloud, respectively. We hope that this decision is an indication of the growing awareness of the ecological role that fire, and big trees, play in forest ecosystems.
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As an advocate for forest ecosystems and healthy salmon runs, KS Wild works to steer foresters away from old-growth logging and toward restoration-based small-diameter thinning. It is evident that old growth is much more scientifically valuable on the landscape than it is in a lumber yard. Meanwhile, small-diameter trees, the spawn of a misguided fire suppression policy implemented in the early 20th century, blanket the landscape. By focusing on small-diameter thinning, public land managers can help make forests more resilient to fire while retaining biological legacies in the form of big trees.
There is no ecological justification for logging large trees, whether they are green or burnt. For years, fire ecologists have been telling all who will listen that the patches of dead trees (snags) created by the fires and other natural disturbance events are a vital ecosystem component for forest health. The snags provide crucial habitat for a number of at-risk terrestrial species such as the Northern Spotted Owl, the Pacific fisher and the Pileated Woodpecker. Further, the snags (and down wood) provide stability for the soils, shelter for the seedlings, and the primary source of wood for in-stream fish habitats.
Recently, peer-reviewed studies have confirmed that post-fire logging inevitably harms natural recovery. In 2006, forest researcher Dan Donato found that salvage logging at the Biscuit Fire had killed tree seedlings and increased fuel loads. Similarly, in 2007, researchers from the Corvallis Forestry Sciences lab found that forest stands which had been logged and replanted following the 1987 Silver Fire burned more severely in the 2002 Biscuit Fire than stands which had not been subjected to salvage logging.
Given the harmful result of widespread fire suppression, coupled with the looming impacts of climate change, it would be prudent for public land managers to reexamine their priorities. KS Wild encourages agencies to focus public resources on thinning small-diameter trees from over-crowded forests near homes and communities before fires begin, rather than logging big trees after the fires have run across the landscape. KS Wild promotes this shift in management by fiercely opposing projects that would degrade old-growth habitat while helping the Forest Service develop appropriate small-diameter thinning projects in order to address the impacts of fire suppression and past clearcutting.
Over the last year, KS Wild has supported several thinning projects in northern California, including the Big Flat project on the Smith River National Recreation Area, the Mt. Ashland Late-Successional Reserve project on the Oak Knoll District of the Klamath National Forest, and the Happy Camp fuels project also on the Klamath National Forest. These projects include prescriptions that would reduce fire hazard by thinning small-diameter trees and using prescribed fire. KS Wild believes it is essential to restore the natural process of fire to these forest ecosystems and is happy to support such work.
As hundreds of fires burn in California this summer, and the skies are clouded with smoke, KS Wild is anticipating another push for logging the post-fire landscape. We remain vigilant in monitoring such activities to oppose projects that will harm forests while encouraging projects that will benefit ecosystems and communities.
For more information: www.kswild.org/fire
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TOC for Forest & River News, Summer 2008