salvage logging

One highly publicized instance of salvage logging followed the Biscuit Fire in Oregon and California in 2002. After the fire, the United States Forest Service salvaged timber burned by the fire. The process was expedited when President George W. Bush signed the Healthy Forests Restoration Act allowing salvage logging to occur more quickly and with reduced threat of lawsuits.{{cite web |title=16 U.S. Code Chapter 84. Healthy Forests Restoration Act |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/16/chapter-84 |via=law.cornell.edu}} President Bill Clinton signed an earlier piece of legislation promoting salvage logging (commonly referred to as the Salvage Rider) as part of the Omnibus Rescissions Bill on July 27, 1995.Public Law 104-19 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Additional Disaster Assistance, for Anti-terrorism Initiatives, for Assistance in the Recovery from the Tragedy that Occurred at Oklahoma City, and the Rescissions Act 1995 http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-104publ19/html/PLAW-104publ19.htm

Forests across western North America impacted by mountain pine beetle infestations were salvage logged.{{Cite journal|title = Variability of snow water equivalent and snow energetics across a large catchment subject to Mountain Pine Beetle infestation and rapid salvage logging|journal = Journal of Hydrology|date = 2010-07-15|pages = 464–479|volume = 388|issue = 3–4|doi = 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2010.05.031|first1 = Dan|last1 = Bewley|first2 = Younes|last2 = Alila|first3 = Andrés|last3 = Varhola| bibcode=2010JHyd..388..464B }} Salvage logging after windthrow is also common.{{Cite book|title = Salvage Logging and its Ecological Consequences|last = Lindenmayer, Burton, and Franklin|publisher = Island Press|year = 2012|isbn = 978-1597264037}}

Salvage logging is of particular concern ecologically because disturbed landscapes tend to be under appreciated and undervalued, and therefore more imperiled than other successional stages on the landscape.{{Cite journal|title = Special Section: The Ecological Effects of Salvage Logging after Natural Disturbance|journal = Conservation Biology|date = 2006-08-01|issn = 1523-1739|pages = 946–948|volume = 20|issue = 4|doi = 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00498.x|first1 = Reed F.|last1 = Noss|first2 = David B.|last2 = Lindenmayer| s2cid=82168344 }}{{Cite journal|title = The forgotten stage of forest succession: early-successional ecosystems on forest sites|journal = Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment|date = 2010-03-02|issn = 1540-9295|pages = 117–125|volume = 9|issue = 2|doi = 10.1890/090157|first1 = Mark E|last1 = Swanson|first2 = Jerry F|last2 = Franklin|first3 = Robert L|last3 = Beschta|first4 = Charles M|last4 = Crisafulli|first5 = Dominick A|last5 = DellaSala|first6 = Richard L|last6 = Hutto|first7 = David B|last7 = Lindenmayer|first8 = Frederick J|last8 = Swanson|url = https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1281&context=biosci_pubs|hdl = 1885/60278| s2cid=17562042 |hdl-access = free}} Concerns include simplification of forest structure, degradation and destruction of wildlife habitat,{{Cite journal|last1=Hanson|first1=Chad T.|last2=Bond|first2=Monica L.|last3=Lee|first3=Derek E.|date=2018-01-18|title=Effects of post-fire logging on California spotted owl occupancy|journal=Nature Conservation|language=en|volume=24|pages=93–105|doi=10.3897/natureconservation.24.20538|issn=1314-3301|doi-access=free}} little or no impact to future fire risk, changes in nutrient cycling, and increased erosion.

As a part of adaptive management strategies designed to meet objectives in long term forestry planning, e.g. the Northwest Forest Plan,{{Cite web |title=Northwest Forest Plan |url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r6/landmanagement/planning/?cid=fsbdev2_026990}} among other actions, salvage logging operations generally take the large snags and surviving trees, leaving lower density stands dominated by small-diameter snags.{{Cite journal|title = Snag longevity in relation to wildfire and postfire salvage logging|journal = Forest Ecology and Management|date = 2006-08-15|pages = 179–187|volume = 232|issue = 1–3|doi = 10.1016/j.foreco.2006.05.068|first1 = Robin E.|last1 = Russell|first2 = Victoria A.|last2 = Saab|first3 = Jonathan G.|last3 = Dudley|first4 = Jay J.|last4 = Rotella}} Bird species diversity can be negatively impacted by this structural change because cavity nesters preferentially nest in larger trees.{{Cite book|title = Responses of cavity-nesting birds to stand-replacement fire and salvage logging in ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir forests of southwestern Idaho|url = http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/23853|date = 1998-01-01|first1 = Victoria A.|last1 = Saab|first2 = Jonathan G.|last2 = Dudley|doi = 10.2737/RMRS-RP-11}}{{Cite journal|title = Nest densities of cavity-nesting birds in relation to postfire salvage logging and time since wildfire|journal = The Condor|date = 2007-02-01|issn = 0010-5422|pages = 97–108|volume = 109|issue = 1|doi = 10.1650/0010-5422(2007)109[97:NDOCBI]2.0.CO;2|first1 = Victoria A.|last1 = Saab|first2 = Robin E.|last2 = Russell|first3 = Jonathan G.|last3 = Dudley| s2cid=85703684 |doi-access = free}} There is not strong evidence that salvage logging consistently affects insect diversity.{{Cite journal|title = Effects of post-fire salvage logging on boreal mixed-wood ground beetle assemblages (Coleoptera, Carabidae)|journal = Forest Ecology and Management|date = 2006-11-15|pages = 102–112|volume = 236|issue = 1|doi = 10.1016/j.foreco.2006.09.004|first1 = Matti|last1 = Koivula|first2 = John R.|last2 = Spence}}{{Cite journal|title = Salvage Logging, Edge Effects, and Carabid Beetles: Connections to Conservation and Sustainable Forest Management|journal = Environmental Entomology|pages = 950–957|volume = 35|issue = 4|doi = 10.1603/0046-225x-35.4.950|first1 = Iain D.|last1 = Phillips|first2 = Tyler P.|last2 = Cobb|first3 = John R.|last3 = Spence|first4 = R. Mark|last4 = Brigham|year = 2006|doi-access = free}}

Proponents argue that, among other benefits, salvage logging reduces the harmful effects of future fires in the logged area and is a prelude to managed reforestation protocols.{{Cite journal |last1=Newton |first1=M. |last2=Fitzgerald |first2=S. |last3=Rose |first3=R. R. |last4=Adams |first4=P. W. |last5=Tesch |first5=S. D. |last6=Sessions |first6=J. |last7=Atzet |first7=T. |last8=Powers |first8=R. F. |last9=Skinner |first9=C. |date=2006-08-04 |title=Comment on "Post-Wildfire Logging Hinders Regeneration and Increases Fire Risk" |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1126478 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=313 |issue=5787 |pages=615 |doi=10.1126/science.1126478 |pmid=16888122 |s2cid=52850371 |issn=0036-8075}} Opponents maintain that the costs and benefits of salvage logging have not been scientifically studied, and that there is some evidence that under some circumstances, the practice may increase damage from future fires and reduce natural regeneration due to soil disturbance and the addition of logging slash.{{Cite journal|title = Fuel mass and stand structure after post-fire logging of a severely burned ponderosa pine forest in northeastern Oregon|journal = Forest Ecology and Management|date = 2007-01-30|pages = 268–279|volume = 238|issue = 1–3|doi = 10.1016/j.foreco.2006.10.021|first1 = J. D.|last1 = McIver|first2 = R.|last2 = Ottmar}}

Salvage logged sites have increased erosion and reduced forest productivity.{{Cite journal|title = Sediment production following severe wildfire and post-fire salvage logging in the Rocky Mountain headwaters of the Oldman River Basin, Alberta|journal = CATENA|date = 2009-12-15|pages = 189–197|volume = 79|series = Sediment Sources and Sediment Delivery under Environmental Change|issue = 3|doi = 10.1016/j.catena.2009.04.001|first1 = Uldis|last1 = Silins|first2 = Micheal|last2 = Stone|first3 = Monica B.|last3 = Emelko|author3-link=Monica Emelko|first4 = Kevin D.|last4 = Bladon| bibcode=2009Caten..79..189S }}

In the United States, salvage logging is a controversial issue for two main reasons. Legal provisions for salvage logging can be used to justify cutting down damaged trees in areas that are otherwise protected from logging.

Salvage logging may also encourage arson, either after a failed lumber sale or to gain permission to log in protected areas, such as old growth forest or regions set aside for the protection of endangered species.{{Cite web|title = Eugene Register-Guard - Google News Archive Search|url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19950302&id=CklWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=I-sDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5220,297833&hl=en|website = news.google.com|access-date = 2015-11-16}}{{Cite news|title = Arson for Profit Is Catching Fire in Nation's Forests : Crime: Motives include clearing timber, selling supplies to firefighters, even firefighting itself. The Southeast has been hit particularly hard--90% of the forest fires on federal land there are deliberately set.|url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-09-24-me-49391-story.html|newspaper = Los Angeles Times|date = 1995-09-24|access-date = 2015-11-16|issn = 0458-3035|language = en-US|first = RICHARD|last = COLE}}

• Salvage sales
• Salvage rider
• Sanitation harvest or cutting or logging is to remove trees for protection against a pest or potential pest.

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Category:Logging

Category:Wildfires