There is NO chainsaw epidemic. Understanding forest management is not as simple or as straight forward as Mr. Wuerthner asserts. In his guest view of June 25, he lumps species of trees and their ecosystems together in a do-nothing advocacy that distorts the nature of forest succession and the efforts of federal and state agencies to manage forests. Foresters and chainsaws are not the enemy, but rather they are part of a reasoned process to address a serious threat to our national forests.
When Gifford Pinchot, considered to be the father of the Forest Service, in 1907, intentionally placed the agency under the Department of Agriculture, not the Department of Interior, as was the National Park Service or BLM; the mission was conservation, wise use of natural resources versus preservation, an almost impossible task.
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Logging, as Mr. Wuerthner claims, is not a way to manage forests, but rather he proposes to let forests somehow magically manage themselves. People are a major part of all forest ecosystems and as such the public’s needs for forest products such as lumber and uses such as recreation, hunting, fishing, etc. must be considered in forest management.
It should be noted that 60% of forests are privately owned while the Forest Service manages 30%. The Forest Service has a land management process under the National Environmental Protection Act and while it is lengthy and at times cumbersome, it does provide and consider input from the public and all sorts of “ologists” to manage the forest wisely.
As for an epidemic, harvests from Forest Service lands have decreased from ten billion board feet (bbf) per year to 2-3 bbf. Many mills have closed, many jobs lost, and now a reliance of imported lumber, all because of the spotted owl habitat requirements and court cases from so-called environmentalists. It is ironic that because the barred owl is mating with the spotted owl that environmentalists have employed drastic action of shooting the barred owl from doing what comes naturally.
One example of letting forests manage themselves (Mr. Wuerthner’s plan) is the loss of ponderosa pine ecosystems, green trees! Indigenous people frequently used fire for centuries to maintain the open nature of ponderosa pine and all its various components. On the other hand, white fir, a fire intolerant species, now covers the landscape, setting the stage for devastating fires imposing severe impacts on people, homes, and the forest itself. Last year the FS spent $2.4 billion fighting fire.
If a fraction of the $2.4 billion was used to mitigate or prevent mega-wildfires, our forests would be healthier, there would be less impacts from smoke, and there would be less property damage. Natural thinning of forests from insect outbreaks, climate change, and other causes will simply not keep up with the need to thin millions of acres and could exacerbate the problem by allowing even larger fires if not treated by active preventative measures. There are at least sixty million acres of fire adapted ecosystems such as ponderosa pine and chainsaws are just one method, but hardly an epidemic.
Foresters are not the problem; they are part of the solution.
Harry Croft, USFS Forester, National Deputy Fire and Aviation Management (retired).
