Friday, April 10, 2009
How to Balance Timber Harvest and Resources Following Wildfire
Land managers in western North America often harvest salvageable timber following large wildfires, but concerns about its ecological effects have been raised. USGS ecologist David Pilliod and colleagues co-authored a new report that synthesizes scientific findings on the effects of post-fire timber harvest. The effects on forest ecosystems are difficult to establish because of variations in landscapes, fire severity, and timing and type of harvest activities. Logging reduces wildfire fuel over the long-term, but post-fire logging generally increases fire hazard and erosion in the first few years after logging. Logging may also affect cavity-nesting animals, depending on the intensity, pattern, and extent of tree and snag removal. Until a useful decision-support system for evaluating post-fire management alternatives has been developed, adjusting management practices in response to changing situations could facilitate the evaluation of long-term effects of different logging alternatives.
Peterson, D.L., Agee, J.K., Aplet, G.H., Dykstra, D., Graham, R.T., Lehmkuhl, J.F., Pilliod, D.S., Potts, D.F., Powers, R.F., Stuart, J.D., 2009, Effects of Timber Harvest Following Wildfire in Western North America: USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station General Technical Report PNW-GTR-776, p. 1-51. [FullText] Catalog No: 1767
Contact:
David
Pilliod,
FRESC,
208-426-5202,
dpilliod@usgs.gov
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