Salvage logging
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Salvage logging is the practice of
logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...
trees in forest areas that have been damaged by
wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...
,
flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
, severe wind,
disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...
, insect infestation, or other natural
disturbance Disturbance and its variants may refer to: Math and science * Disturbance (ecology), a temporary change in average environmental conditions that causes a pronounced change in an ecosystem * Disturbance (geology), linear zone of faults and folds ...
in order to recover economic value that would otherwise be lost. Although the primary motivation of salvage logging is economic, it has also been suggested that salvage logging may reduce erosion, reduce intensity of future
wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...
s, and slow buildup of pest insects. However, there is little evidence to support such claims, and most evidence supports the view that salvage logging is harmful to forest health and function. As with other logging operations, the harvesting may be either by
selection Selection may refer to: Science * Selection (biology), also called natural selection, selection in evolution ** Sex selection, in genetics ** Mate selection, in mating ** Sexual selection in humans, in human sexuality ** Human mating strategie ...
,
thinning Thinning is a term used in agricultural sciences to mean the removal of some plants, or parts of plants, to make room for the growth of others. Selective removal of parts of a plant such as branches, buds, or roots is typically known as pruning. ...
or
clearcutting Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/ logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters to create certain types of fore ...
, and a regeneration plan may be put in place after the logging. Salvage logging may include removal of remaining live trees in predominantly dead stands.


Examples

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 The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...
salvage burned timber in the area. The process was expedited when
President George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
signed the Healthy Forests Restoration Act allowing salvage logging to occur more quickly and with reduced threat of lawsuits.
President Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again f ...
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. Forests across western North America impacted by recent
mountain pine beetle The mountain pine beetle (''Dendroctonus ponderosae'') is a species of bark beetle native to the forests of western North America from Mexico to central British Columbia. It has a hard black exoskeleton, and measures approximately , about the siz ...
infestations are currently being salvage logged. Salvage logging after windthrow is also common.


Ecological impacts

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. Concerns include simplification of forest structure, degradation and destruction of wildlife habitat, 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, among other actions, salvage logging operations generally take the large
snags In forest ecology, a snag refers to a standing, dead or dying tree, often missing a top or most of the smaller branches. In freshwater ecology it refers to trees, branches, and other pieces of naturally occurring wood found sunken in rivers and ...
and surviving trees, leaving lower density stands dominated by small-diameter snags. Bird
species diversity Species diversity is the number of different species that are represented in a given community (a dataset). The effective number of species refers to the number of equally abundant species needed to obtain the same mean proportional species abundan ...
can be negatively impacted by this structural change because cavity nesters preferentially nest in larger trees. There is not strong evidence that salvage logging consistently affects insect diversity. 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. 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. Salvage logged sites have increased erosion and reduced forest productivity.


Controversy

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 Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...
, either after a failed lumber sale or to gain permission to log in protected areas, such as
old growth forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...
or regions set aside for the protection of endangered species.


See also

* Sanitation harvest or cutting or logging is to remove trees for protection against a pest or potential pest.


References

{{Forestry Logging Wildfires