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NEWS RELEASE
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Current Salvage Logging in the Rodeo-Chediski |
(Phoenix) Today, the Sierra Club, Southwest Forest Alliance, and Center for Biological Diversity announced they are challenging the Rodeo-Chediski salvage logging project that is proposed on 41,059 acres of the Tonto and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. The proposed salvage logging project will cost $1.8 million at a loss of about $150,000 in taxpayer dollars, cause environmental damage, plus it will not protect Arizona communities.
The Forest Service indicates that the proposal is needed to remove the trees while they still have economic value, yet according to the planning documents, the salvage logging proposal will result in a net loss to tax payers. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement indicates it would cost the taxpayers $1,819,454 and generate $1,669,800. The document goes on to say “the local labor pool would be exhausted and a large percentage of the jobs would use outside sources of labor. Skilled forest workers would need to be imported into the area and secondary products jobs and indirect support functions would be exported with the materials to other regions in the United States.” It also states, “The local economy may see a short-term peak in temporary woods workers, but this industry would likely decline back to current numbers after the salvage operations are concluded.”
Meanwhile, according to the Arizona Wildland Urban Interface Assessment 2003, there are 98 communities in Arizona at high risk for wildfire. The limited money available should be focused on thinning small diameter trees near these communities in order to protect them, not to log large trees in the backcountry.
“Salvage logging is part of the problem as it does not reduce fire risk and also does environmental damage,” said Roxane George, with the Southwest Forest Alliance. “This proposed salvage sale will focus on large trees rather than on the 90% of the trees in the forests that are 12 inches in diameter and smaller and that present the greatest fire risk.”
Unlike prescribed burning, salvage logging does not remove fine fuels. Salvage operations limb the trees and leave all of the branches and fine fuels on the ground where they can easily burn, and remove only the fire-resistant large boles. In addition to increasing fine fuels, salvage logging opens up the forest, creating drier, hotter conditions and higher wind speeds.
“We need real solutions to protect Arizona’s communities,” said Todd Schulke with the Center for Biological Diversity. “We should focus our tax dollars on thinning small trees near communities, use prescribed burns to clear out fine fuels as they fall to the ground, and support community-sized industries that can use the small diameter trees and brush from thinning projects.”
In addition to the economic loss and the lack of protection to communities, salvage logging is not beneficial to the fragile post-fire environment. Logging in recently burned areas like the Rodeo-Chediski fire area increases water run-off and speeds up topsoil erosion. Standing dead trees (snags) provide essential habitat for wildlife, including the woodpeckers that can eat up to 90 percent of the bark beetles in a tree. According to leading scientists, “Salvage harvesting activities undermine many of the ecosystem benefits of major disturbances.”[1]
“Because it has defined the purpose of the project so narrowly, the Forest Service refuses to consider any alternatives other than a major salvage project on tens of thousands of acres of land,” said Robin Cooley, attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity and the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Denver College of Law. “This is a clear violation of the National Environmental Policy Act.”
The Rodeo-Chediski Salvage Project will harvest dead standing trees with merchantable value that are 12 inches and larger in diameter at breast height (dbh) on about 34,000 acres and also harvest fuel wood on another nearly 7,000 acres. The Salvage Sale includes construction of between 14.2 and 19.9 miles of additional roads, plus 221-249 miles of additional construction activities on existing roads. Road building worsens erosion, promotes the spread and establishment of invasive exotic weeds and degrades and fragments wildlife habitat.
The Southwest Forest Alliance is a Flagstaff-based forest advocacy group with 65 member organizations that since 1994 has focused on developing a scientifically based vision for restoring degraded forest ecosystems and to seek public support for this vision. These efforts have focused on the protection of old growth forests and damaged watersheds. The Center for Biological Diversity focuses on protecting endangered species and wild places through science, policy, education, and environmental law. The Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter is part of the nation’s oldest grassroots environmental organization with more than 12,000 members in Arizona dedicated to exploring, enjoying, and protecting the wild places of the earth.
A fact sheet on salvage logging, photographs from current salvage logging in the Rodeo-Chediski burn area and scientific reports on salvage logging are available at www.swfa.org, www.arizona.sierraclub.org and www.biologicaldiversity.org
[1]Lindenmayer, D.B. and others, Science, Vol 303, 27 February 2004
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Fact Sheet and Additional Photos...
Page updated: 02/19/04Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Chapter, 202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277, Phoenix, AZ 85004, (602) 253-8633
