Forest Management

Grand Canyon

Monuments

Salvage Logging Bibliography

This bibliography includes studies from a variety of climates and forest types. In all of these disparate regions, the research points to the same conclusion - salvage logging is destructive and impedes post-fire ecological recovery goals.

Albini, F.A.; and E.D. Reinhardt. 1997. Improved Calibration of a Large Fuel Burnout Model. International Journal of Wildland Fire 7(1):21-28.

A fuel burnout model was recalibrated to include fuel moisture content data.  The inclusion of this factor greatly improved the model's predictive capacity.

Allen, Craig; Savage, M.; Falk, D; et al. 2002. Ecological Restoration of Southwestern Ponderosa Pine Ecosystems: A Broad Perspective. Ecological Applications 12(5), p1424-1425.

"The purpose of this paper is to promote a broad and flexible perspective on ecological restoration of Southwestern (U.S.) ponderosa pine forests. Ponderosa pine forests in the region have been radically altered by Euro-American land uses, including livestock grazing, fire suppression, and logging.ÉEfforts to restore Southwestern forests will require extensive projects employing varying combinations of young-tree thinning and reintroduction of low-intensity fires. Treatments must be flexible enough to recognize and accommodate: high levels of natural heterogeneity; dynamic ecosystems; wildlife and other biodiversity considerations; scientific uncertainty; and the challenges of on-the-ground implementation. ..."

Baker, William L.; Veblen, Thomas T.; and Sherriff, Rosemary L. 2007. Fire, fuels and restoration of ponderosa pine-Douglas fir forests in the Rocky Mountains, USA.  Journal of Biogeography. 34, 251-269.

Most forest restoration models show frequent, low-severity surface fires for PIPO in the forests of the Southwest. The researchers demonstrate that the low-severity fires were common historically in low-elevation areas but that high-severity fires did in fact occur. Moreover, these high severity fires greatly increased tree regeneration. "Restoration is likely to be most effective which seeks to (1) restore variability of fire, (2) reverse changes brought about by livestock grazing and logging, and (3) modify these land uses so that degradation is not repeated."

Bate, L.J.; Garton, E.O.; and M.J. Wisdom. 1999. Estimating Snag and Tree Densities and Distributions on a Landscape for Wildlife Management. USDA-FS Pacific Northwest Research Station. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-425. 76p.

"Provides methods for sampling snags and large trees on a landscape to conduct compliance and effectiveness monitoring for wildlife in relation to the habitat standards and guidelines on National ForestsÉ Based on the results of the Compare to Target analysis, estimated snag densities were less than the targeted snag densities listed in the Forest plan."

Bayles, David; Minshall, G. Wayne; Frissell, Christopher. 1995. Forest health and salvage logging: What's the connection? 2 p. Unpublished report. On file with: Interior Columbia Basin Project, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, 1401 Gekeler Lane, La Grande, OR 97850.

Found "No evidence that salvage logging improves watershedsÉ, and a great deal of evidence that it does harm." Dead trees serve a necessary function and are important to ecosystem recovery. Thinning and underburning can be beneficial in some instances, but fuel reduction cannot be done on a large enough scale. Limiting human effects will best help ecosystems.

Beschta R.L., J.J. Rhodes, J.B. Kauffman, R.E. Gresswell, G.W. Minshall, J.R. Karr, D.A. Perry, F.R. Hauer, and C.A.Frissell, 2004.  Postfire management on forested public lands of the western USA. Cons. Bio., 18:1-11.

"Forest ecosystems are especially vulnerable to postfire management practices because such practices may influence forest dynamics and aquatic systems for decades to centuries. . . The following practices are generally inconsistent with efforts to restore ecosystem functions after fire:  seeding exotic species, livestock grazing, placement of physical structures in and near stream channels, ground-based post-fire logging, removal of large trees, and road construction."

Brais, S., Pare, D., Oiumet, R., 2000. Impacts of wild fire severity and salvage harvesting on the nutrient balance of jack pine and black spruce boreal stands. Forest Ecology and Management, 137: 231-243.

Light to moderate fire has little impact on nutrients.  Severe fire OR salvage depletes potassium.  Severe fire AND salvage also depletes magnesium and calcium.  Study done in northern Quebec.

Brown, Rick. 1997. Post-fire salvage. Natural Resource News. La Grande, OR: Blue Mountains Natural Resources Institute; 7(3): 4.

Concludes that a careful weighing of economic benefits versus ecological risks must be done before deciding to salvage harvest.  He finds that the ecological effects of salvage harvests are predominantly detrimental.

Brown, J. Reinardt, Elizabeth, Kramer, Kyle. 2003. Coarse Woody Debris: Management Benefits and Fire Hazard In the Recovering Forest. Gen. Tech Rep. RMRS-GTR-105. Ogden UT: US Dept. of Ag, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 16 p.

Provides ample arguments in favor of leaving large amounts of coarse woody debris, up to 40 tons/acre.  "Salvage may be undesirable where large diameter snags needed by wildlife are in short supply in adjoining areas."

Cline, S. P., A. B. Berg, and H. W. Wight. 1980. Snag characteristics and dynamics in Douglas-fir forests, western Oregon. Journal of Wildlife Management 44:773-786.

Study of wet DF forest.  Large snags are always abundant in unmanaged stands.  Even thinning has long-lasting impacts on snag densities.  Suggest managing some stands at 200+ year rotations.  On managed stands, leave clumped patches of large snags and large defective trees to recruit from.  If there are few snags, kill trees to make some.

Covert-Bratland, K.A., W. M. Block, and T. Theimer. 2006. Hairy woodpecker winter ecology in ponderosa pine forests representing different ages since wildfire. Journal of Wildlife Management 70(5).

Found that the periphery of a burn area is an important source of food for hairy woodpeckers, particularly in the winter when bird mortality is highest.

D'Antonio, C.M. 2000. Fire, plant invasions and global changes. In, H. Mooney and R. Hobbs (eds). Invasive species in a changing world, pp. 65-94. Island Press, Covela.

Fire generally tends to promote exotics except where fire has a long evolutionary history.  Climate change may alter fire frequency, especially by promoting fire-prone exotics and by affecting wind speeds.

DellaSala, D.A. and E. Frost.  2001.  An ecologically based strategy for fire and fuels management in national forest roadless areas.  Fire Management Today 61(2): 12-23.

Summarizes available scientific evidence on the relationship between fire, timber management and roadless areas.

DellaSala, D. A., G. Nagle, R. Fairbanks, D. Odion, J. Williams, J. R. Karr, C. Frissell, and T. Ingalsbee. 2006. The facts and myths of post-fire management: a case study of the Biscuit fire, southwest Oregon. Unpublished Report, World Wildlife Fund, Klamath-Siskiyou Program, 116 Lithia Way, Ashland, Oregon.  

Reveals that logging at Biscuit has lost taxpayers $14 million and confirms that severe ecological damage occurred. Among others they found that: 1. Post-fire logging is not a restorative action, rather it harms regenerative processes by degrading soils, causing excessive erosion, delaying natural plant and animal succession, and introducing or spreading invasive species (impacts are more severe for ground- and cable-based logging than helicopter logging). 2. Post-fire logging, rather than jump starting old-growth forests, inhibits the return of old-growth forest conditions by removing the very components (large dead, dying, and downed trees) crucial in their development 3. Post-fire logging can elevate hazardous fuels by removing the least flammable portion of trees (trunks) and generating significant logging slash (in places where logging slash is treated with pile burning, damage to soils can have long-term consequences).

DeLong, S. C., and W. B. Kessler. 2000. Ecological characteristic of mature forest remnants left by wildfire. Forest Ecology and Management 131:93-106.

Remnants that survive within post-fire landscapes continue as ecologically unique habitat types not found in similarly aged forest.  These remnants may be especially important to some at-risk species.  Remnants are also different than patches left uncut in an otherwise logged landscape.

Dombeck, M.P., Williams, J.E., Wood, C.A., 2004. Wildfire Policy and Public Lands: Integrating Scientific Understanding with Social Concerns across Landscapes. Conservation Biology 18(4):883-889.

The priority for fuels management should be the wilderness-urban interface (WUI) and municipal watersheds, not fire-burned trees in the backcountry. Points to the need to reintroduce natural fire regimes in wilderness areas.  Reducing fuels while destroying soils or watersheds does more harm than good.

Donato D.C., J.B. fontaine, L.L. Campbell, W.D. Robinson, J.B. Kauffman, B.E. Law. 2006. Post-Wildfire Logging Hinders Regeneration and Increases Fire Risk. Science January 5, 2006.

Salvage logging reduces conifer regeneration and increases fine and coarse downed woody fuel loads.  Study notable for the OSU response and attempt to censor it and the embarrassment suffered by Dean Salwasser as well as Professor Sessions.

Foster, D.R.; Knight, D.H.; and J.F. Franklin. 1998. Landscape Patterns and Legacies Resulting from Large, Infrequent Forest Disturbances. Ecosystems 1: 497-510.

Undisturbed patches can amplify the diversity of the entire post-fire landscape.  Over many years, repeated fires may burn in similar patterns in specific places leading to long-term varied distribution of species, organic matter, wetlands, etc.

Franklin, J. F., and J. Agee. 2003. Scientific issues and national forest fire policy: forging a science-based national forest fire policy. Issues in Science and Technology 20:59-66.

Forest managers should differentiate forest type by fire regime and manage appropriately.  Wet forests often do not need fuel treatment and salvage is inappropriate; Dry forests often do not need suppression but some salvage may be suitable. Do not log large, old trees nor establish dense plantations where they did not exist previously.  Multiple treatments are often required, for example, two prescribed burnings in succession.  Treatments in small areas accomplish little.

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Graham, R.T., Harvey, A.E., Jain, T.B., Tonn, J.R., 1999. The Impacts of Thinning and Similar Stand Treatments on Fire Behavior in Western Forests. USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station PNW-GTR-463. 27pp.

Failure to treat slash increases fire risk:  treated areas have more fuel, less moisture, higher winds.  Selection and crown thinning are bad.  Salvage doesn't improve ecosystems.  "Overzealous removal of fuel to prevent fire can imperil future site productivity."  Thinning works best with prescribed fire.

Harrod, R.J., Gaines, W.E., Camp, A., 1998. Estimating Historical Snag Density in Dry Forests East of the Cascade Range. USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station PNW-GTR-428. 16pp.

Estimated historical range of snags on the eastside of the Cascades:  6-14 snags/acre.  Includes descriptions of pre-management Arizona forest conditions.

Hutto, R.L., 2006. Toward Meaningful Snag Management Guidelines for Postfire Salvage Logging in North American Conifer Forests. Conservation Biology 20(4):984-993.

Postfire soils, plants and wildlife are most sensitive and most rare.  Snags are extremely important to wildlife.  Existing green-tree forest snag guidelines are inadequate to burned forests and should be altered from ~8 snags/ha to as many as 300, mostly ponderosa pine and Douglas fir.  Even partial salvage can severely impact plants and wildlife most dependent on postfire landscapes. 

Karr, J.R., Rhodes, J.J., Minshall, G.W., Hauer F.R., Beschta, R.L., Frissel, C.A., Perry, D.A., 2004. The Effects of Postfire Salvage Logging on Aquatic Ecosystems in the American West. Bioscience 54(11):1029-1033.

10 recommendations to avoid damage from salvage. 

Klock, G.O., 1975. Impact of five postfire salvage logging systems on soils and vegetation. J. Soil Water Conserv. 30, 78-81.

Salvage logging can be detrimental to soil.

Lindenmayer, D.B., Noss, R.F., 2006. Salvage Logging, Ecosystem Processes, and Biodiversity Conservation. Conservation Biology 20(4):949-958.

"[Salvage logging]  may reduce or eliminate biological legacies, modify rare postdisturbance habitats, influence populations, alter community composition, impair natural vegetation recovery, facilitate the colonization of invasive species, alter soil properties and nutrient levels, increase erosion, modify hydrological regimes and aquatic ecosystems, and alter patterns of landscape heterogeneity."

Martinez-Sa«nchez, J.J., Ferrandis, P., de la Hersa, J., Herranz, J.M., 1999. Effect of burnt wood removal on the natural regeneration of Pinus halepensis after fire in a pine forest in Tus valley (SE Spain). For. Ecol. Manage. 123, 1-10.

Salvage logging can be detrimental to vegetation.

Maser, C., 1996. Salvage logging: the loss of ecological reason and moral restraint. Int. J. Ecofor. 12, 176-178.

Salvage logging can be detrimental to soil.  Lists seven negative consequences of salvage; Questions the overall practice of salvage; Salvage is economical, not ecological.

McIver, J.D., and L. Starr.  2000.  Environmental Effects of Postfire Logging: Literature Review and Annotated Bibliography.  USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-486.  January.  72 pp.

Written by the forest service. A bibliographical review of all literature on salvage logging - up to 1998.  Claims there is no evidence for salvage as fire hazard reduction.  Roads are the biggest erosion problem.  Seedlings killed by post-fire logging. Avoid ground-based logging, roads, steep and sensitive soils.  Also:  see Sexton ('94) on p. 17.

McIver, J.D., and L. Starr.  2001.  A Literature Review on the Environmental Effects of Postfire Logging. Western Journal of Applied Forestry 16(4):159-168.

A shorter version of the 2000 review.

Meissner, J.K. 1995. Observations on the Emergency Salvage Sale Program. Testimony of General Accounting Office before the Subcommittee on Forests and Public Lands Management, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate, and the Timber Salvage Task Force, Resources Committee, House of Representatives. November 29.

Minshall, G. Wayne; Meyer, Judy L.; Stanford, Jack A. [and others]. 1994. Letter dated September 19 to President Clinton on fire and salvage logging. 2 p. On file with: Pacific Rivers Council, P.O. Box 10798, Eugene, OR 97440.

Letter from five respected scientists against logging after wildfire.

Morrsion, M.L., Raphael, M.G., 1993. Modeling the Dynamics of Snags. Ecological Applications 3(2):322-330.

In estimating snag densities, method of snag creation and diameter are probably more important than species.  Fire-killed snags fall quicker.  Pine fall faster than fir.  Models may be landscape-specific.

Noss, R.F., Beier, P., Covington, W.W., Grumbine, R.E., Lindenmayer, D.B., Prather, J.W., Schmiegelow, F., Sisk, T.D., Vosick, D.J., 2006. Recommendations for Integrating Restoration Ecology and Conservation Biology in Ponderosa Pine Forests of the Southwestern United States. Restoration Ecology 14(1):4-10.

"We suggest that the integration of concepts, principles, and methods of conservation planning and ecological restoration provides a scientifically rigorous basis for managing ponderosa pine landscapesÉ Reducing road density across the landscape and protecting the remaining old trees from logging, unnatural stand-replacing fire, and uncharacteristic levels of insect and disease attack are perhaps the most needed conservation measures."

Noss et al. 2006. Ecological Science Relevant to Management Policies for Fire-prone Forests of the Western United States. Society for Conservation Biology, February 24, 2006.

An attempt to reconcile restoration ecology with conservation biology as applied to ponderosa pine forests.  Plan on a regional scale, vary treatments to spread risk, reduce roads, and protect old trees.  "Salvage logging is not restoration."

Odion et al. 2004.  Patterns of Fire Severity and Forest Conditions in the Western Klamath Mountains, California. Conservation Biology, Volume 18, No. 4 pages 927-936. 

In Klamath the authors found lower fire severity for closed forest than for open forest and shrub; severity not as high where fire has not burned for some time; plantations burn at twice the severity.  Fuel build-up did not predict a high severity fire.

Passavoy, M.D., Fule, P.Z., 2005. Snag and woody debris dynamics following severe wildfires in northern Arizona ponderosa pine forests. Forest Ecology and Management 223:237-246.

This research assesses the quantity and quality of post-wildfire coarse woody debris (CWD). "In situations where post-fire fuels may be seen as excessive, prescribed burning is an alternative way [to salvage] to lower fuel load while retaining CWD benefits ÉPassive management may be appropriate where managers believe that the fuel complex of snags and CWD does not exceed thresholds such as those suggested by Brown et al. (2003) and where salvage actions are not indicated for other reasons (public safety, insect infestation, and economic issues).

Potts, D.F., Peterson, D.L., Zuuring, H.R., 1985. Watershed modeling for fire management planning in the northern Rocky Mountains. USDA Forest Service Research Paper PSW-177.

Salvage logging is detrimental to soil.

Prestemon, J. P. and T. P. Holmes. 2000. Timber price dynamics following a natural catastrophe. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 82:145-160

"Catastrophic shocks to existing stocks of a renewable resource can cause long-run price shifts. With timber, these long-run price shifts may be accompanied by a short-run price drop due to salvage. Hurricane Hugo damaged 20% of southern pine timber in the South Carolina Coastal Plain in 1989É Modeling revealed a 30% negative price spike due to salvage and a long-run enhancement effectÉ"

Reeves, G.H., Bisson, P.A., Rieman, B.E., Benda, L.E., 2006. Postfire Logging in Riparian Areas. Conservation Biology 20(4):994-1004.

USFS authors.  Riparian recovers well naturally.  Intermittent and ephemeral streams and headwater depressions matter.  "In the absence of reliable information about the potential consequence of postfire timber harvest, we conclude that providing postfire riparian zones with the same environmental protections they received before they burned is justified ecologically." Natural re-burn probabilities unknown.  More study is needed.

Roy, D.F., 1956. Salvage Logging may Destroy Douglas-Fir Reproduction. USDA Forest Service Research Note 107. California Forest and Range Experiment Station, Berkeley, CA.

Found that salvage logging can be detrimental to vegetation.  75% of established seedlings were killed in a single postfire logging operation.

Saab, V., Dudley, J., 1998. Response of cavity-nesting birds to stand-replacement fire and salvage logging in ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir forests of southwestern Idaho. USDA Forest Service Research Paper RMRS-RP-11. Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO.

Found that bird species composition differed among treatments (standard salvage, wildlife salvage, unlogged) and that salvage logging can be detrimental to wildlife.

Savage, M., Mast, J.N., 2005. How resilient are southwestern pine forests after crown fires? Canadian Journal of Forest Research 35:967-977.

Logging, grazing and suppression have led to unnatural crown fires in Ponderosa Pine forests and recovery is not guaranteed.  Re-burns could compound problems.  Therefore avoid actions that compound problems such as salvage and grazing.  Also should thin and surface burn dense stands.

Sexton, T.O., 1998. Ecological effects of post-wildfire salvage on vegetation diversity, biomass, and regrowth and survival of Pinus ponderosa and Purshia tridentata. M.S. Thesis. Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR.

Salvage logging may be detrimental to vegetation.

Smucker, K.M., Hutto, R.L., Steele, B.M., 2005. Changes in Bird Abundance after Wildfire: Importance of Fire Severity and Time since Fire. Ecological Applications 15(5):1535-1549.

Birds and other species show a complex response to fire.  Abundance increases and decreases depending on both fire severity and time since fire.  Therefore public lands should be managed for the maintenance of all kinds of fires and post-fire landscapes, including prescribed "catastrophic" fire.

Stephens, S.L., 1998. Evaluation of the effects of silvicultural and fuels treatments on potential fire behavior in Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forests. Forest Ecology and Management 105:21-35.

Of 11 treatments, the only way to substantially reduce fire risk was either prescribed burn; thinning by removing all biomass and then prescribed burn; or salvage or group selection with slash AND landscape fuel treatments.  Many thinning treatments increase fire risk.  Current policy is that beneficial wildfire is extinguished while high severity wildfire remains the only impact on ecosystems, a self-perpetuating system.

Thompson, Jonathan R., Spies, T.A., Ganio, L.M Reburn, 2007. Severity in Managed and Unmanaged Vegetation in a Large Wildfire. PNAS 104(25):10743-10748.

Comparison managed and unmanaged parcels in an area that burned in 1987 and then again in 2002. "Areas that burned severely in 1987 tended to reburn at high severity in 2002... Areas unaffected by the initial fire tended to burn at the lowest severities in 2002. Areas that were salvage-logged and planted after the initial fire burned more severely than comparable unmanaged areas, suggesting that fuel conditions in conifer plantations can increase fire severity despite removal of large woody fuelsÉ [italics added] The logging component of this system is often considered a fuel-reduction treatment. However, the large-diameter fuels removed during harvest do not readily carry wildland fire. Thus, logging may not reduce available fuels. In fact, harvesting fire-killed trees may increase available surface fuels by transferring unmerchantable material, such as tops, branches, and broken boles to the ground immediately after harvest. This effect may be mitigated as logging slash decays, or through fuel reduction methods, such as broadcast-burning.

Turner, M.G., Romme, W.H., Gardner, R.H., 1999. Prefire Heterogeneity, Fire Severity, and Early Postfire Plant Reestablishment in the Subalpine Forests of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. International Journal of Wildland Fire 9(1):21-36.

In lodgepole, older stands burn more severely; bigger trees more likely to survive.  Severe beetle and mistletoe damage led to severe fire but lesser pre-fire damage reduced severity.  Within-burn seed sources most important to regeneration.

Turner, M.G., Romme, W.H., Tinker, D.B., 2003. Surprises and lessons from the 1998 Yellowstone fires. Frontiers in Ecology and Environment 1(7):351-358.

Need to distinguish understory fire regimes from stand-replacing and manage as such.  Stand-replacing fire can recover naturally, quickly and may "play a key role in population structure, genetics and evolution" of many species.  Climate, more than fuels, drives stand-replacing fire.

Weatherspoon, C.P. and C.N. Skinner.  1995.  An assessment of factors associated with damage to tree crowns from the 1987 wildfires in northern California.  Forest Science 41(3): 430-451.

Found that the variables that most strongly influenced fire damage tended to be those most directly related to management activities - site preparation method and damage in adjacent stand for plantations, and stand treatment for uncut and partial-cut stands.

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