Logging Does Not "Fire Proof" Our Forests

There are some that say that more commercial logging in our National Forests can prevent future wildfires. However, this belief is not supported by scientific evidence. In fact, the nation's leading forest ecologists conclude that past commercial logging, roadbuilding, livestock grazing and aggressive fire fighting are major sources for increased insect infestations, disease outbreaks and severe wildfires.

Logging leaves behind fuels that intensify wildfire

Commercial logging removes the least flammable portion of trees - their trunks - while leaving the most flammable parts, the needles and limbs, directly on the ground. This debris, known as logging slash, can adversely affect fire behavior for up to 30 years following a logging operation, increasing both the intensity and spread of wildfires.

Grasses, shrubs and saplings feed fire and allow it to spread more quickly. However, commercial logging operations remove larger-diameter trees, which are naturally fire resistant, and leave behind an increased amount of these smaller, fire-prone fuels.

Logging dries out the forest floor

Commercial logging opens up the forest canopy, which moderates the local forest climate. This exposes the forest floor to increased sun and wind, causing higher temperatures and decreased humidity and moisture. Surface fuels - such as bushes, branches and small trees - become hotter and drier, resulting in faster rates of fire spread, greater flame lengths, and more erratic shifts in the speed and direction of fires.

Logging spreads invasive, flammable weeds

Commercial logging operations spread invasive weeds which are much more flammable than the original forest cover. Once the commercially valuable timber has been removed, federal agencies have no economic incentives to manage the invasive weeds that colonize sites disturbed by logging operations.

The bottom line

Watersheds that have experienced extensive commercial logging and roadbuilding experience greater fire severity than unlogged and unroaded watersheds.

For more information, contact Dr. Timothy Ingalsbee at the Western Fire Ecology Center in Eugene, Oregon at (541) 302-6218, fire@efn.org or visit www.fire-ecology.org.