Scientist letter opposing post-fire logging

August 1, 2006
Dear Members of Congress:
The United States has made great strides by relying on science to inform our decision making.
Science helped us travel to the moon; advance medicine and health; and understand the complex
web of life on land and in rivers, lakes, and oceans. Science has also opened our eyes to the
workings of forests and provided blueprints for federal plans to better protect the abundant
natural resources of our public lands.
When we, as scientists, see policies being developed that run counter to the lessons of science,
we feel compelled to speak up. Proposed post-disturbance legislation (specifically the Forest
Emergency Recovery and Research Act [HR 4200] and the related Forests for Future
Generations Act [S. 2079]), crafted as a response to recent fires and other disturbances, is
misguided because it distorts or ignores recent scientific advances. Under the labels of
“recovery” and “restoration,” these bills would speed logging and replanting after natural
disturbances.
Although logging and replanting may seem like a reasonable way to clean up and restore forests
after disturbances like wildland fires, such activity would actually slow the natural recovery of
forests and of streams and creatures within them. Many scientist-reviewed studies and syntheses
(please see the selected citations appended to this letter) have recently come to this conclusion.
For example, no substantive evidence supports the idea that fire-adapted forests might be
improved by logging after a fire. In fact, many carefully conducted studies have concluded just
the opposite. Most plants and animals in these forests are adapted to periodic fires and other
natural disturbances. They have a remarkable way of recovering.literally rising from the
ashes.because they have evolved with and even depend upon fire.
We are concerned that HR 4200 and S. 2079 will bind us to land management practices that,
perhaps logical in the past, are no longer tenable in the light of recent scientific understanding.
Specifically, post-disturbance logging impedes regeneration of forest landscapes when it
compacts soils, removes or destroys so-called biological legacies (such as soil organic material,
seeds in the soil, large standing and downed trees), damages riparian corridors, introduces or
spreads invasive species, causes erosion, delivers sediment to streams from logging roads and
steep slopes, degrades water quality, and damages populations of many aquatic species. In
testimony before the House Subcommittee on Resources (November 10, 2005), eminent forest
ecologist and University of Washington Professor Jerry Franklin noted that logging dead trees
often has greater negative impacts than logging of live trees. He concluded that “timber salvage
is most appropriately viewed as a ‘tax’ on ecological recovery.”
Beyond those concerns, post-disturbance logging often intensifies the potential severity of future
fires by concentrating the slash from logging at or near the ground. Rather than leaving plant
material standing.and providing perching, nesting, and feeding sites for wildlife.such logging
abruptly moves the material to the ground. Most of this material would naturally fall to the
ground, adding important supplies of nutrients and energy to the forest floor and structure in the
form of woody debris to stream channels. But this naturally happens over decades, not in the
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relatively short time associated with a logging operation. Advocates of post-disturbance logging
may argue that this slash can be disposed of with controlled burns and other treatments. Yet such
treatments can severely damage underlying soils, imposing other taxes on natural recovery.
One additional tax concerns us. Postfire logging taxes the public treasury. Recent analysis of
postfire logging operations after Oregon’s Biscuit fire of 2002 shows that costs of the logging
operations exceeded revenue by about $14 million for logging that removed more than 53
million board feet of timber (DellaSala et al. 2006).
Science provides the best insight into the real consequences of our policies and actions.
Ironically, this legislation is crafted to ignore the science by waiving environmental reviews,
reviews that would make use of the scientific knowledge often available only because of
expenditures of public funds. Failure to conduct full environmental reviews informed by that
science will inevitably lead to ecological and economic harm from post-disturbance logging.
In short, neither ecological benefits nor economic efficiency result from post-disturbance
logging. We therefore urge you to defeat these legislative efforts because they will set back
forest recovery. We urge you to work with your fellow lawmakers to craft legislation that will
rely on the most up-to-date scientific knowledge to protect the natural resources of the nation’s
public lands.
Sincerely,*
Isabella A. Abbott, Ph.D.
Wilder Professor Emerita, Botany
University of Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
Margaret Adam
Wildlife Biologist
Twentynine Palms, California
Anurag Agrawal
Associate Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary
Biology
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
Paul Alaback, Ph.D.
Forest Ecologist
University of Montana
Missoula, Montana
Matthew Albrecht
Ph.D. Candidate, Environmental & Plant
Biology
Forest Ecologist
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio
Christopher B. Allen
Research Associate, Silviculture
School of Renewable Natural Resources
Louisiana State University Agricultural Center
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
William S. Alverson, Ph.D.
Conservation Ecologist, ECP
Field Museum of Natural History
Chicago, Illinois
Richard F. Ambrose, Ph.D.
Professor, Environmental Science &
Engineering Program
University of California
Los Angeles, California
James P. Amon, Ph.D.
Wetland Biologist
Professor
Wright State University
Dayton, Ohio
3
Thomas H. Anderson, Ph.D.
Professor, Geology
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
William D. Anderson, Jr., Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Grice Marine Biological Laboratory
College of Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Robert Angus, Ph.D.
Professor, Biology
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Joseph E. Armstrong, Ph.D.
Professor, Botany
Illinois State University
Normal, Illinois
Julian D. Avery
Avian Ecologist
Eastern New Mexico University
Portales, New Mexico
Laura Backus
Professional Wetland Scientist
Wildlands Restoration Volunteers
Boulder, Colorado
Ken Bagstad
Graduate Research Assistant
Ph.D. Program, Natural Resources/Ecological
Economics
University of Vermont
Burlington, Vermont
Dirk V. Baker
Ph.D. Candidate
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado
Richard G. Baker, Ph. D.
Professor Emeritus, Geoscience
University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
Richard H. Baker, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory
University of Florida
Vero Beach, Florida
William L. Baker, Ph.D.
Department of Geography
University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming
Bruce G. Baldwin, Ph.D.
Professor, Integrative Biology
Curator, Jepson Herbarium
University of California
Berkeley, California
Andy Baltensperger
M.S. Candidate, Fishery & Wildlife Biology
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado
Mark Bamberger, Ph.D.
Professor, Geology & Environmental Sciences
Miami University, The Union Institute &
University, and Capital University
Oxford, Ohio
Raymond Barbehenn
Associate Research Scientist, Ecology &
Evolutionary Biology
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Shannon Barber-Meyer
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
La Jolla, California
Linda Sue Barnes, Ph.D.
Professor, Biology (specialty Botany)
Methodist College
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Frank Barnwell, Ph.D.
Professor, Ecology, Evolution & Behavior
University of Minnesota
St. Paul, Minnesota
4
James Barron, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biology
Montana State University, Billings
Billings, Montana
Paul E. Bartelt, Ph.D.
Department of Biology
Waldorf College
Forest City, Iowa
Andrew M. Barton, Ph.D.
Forest Ecologist
Associate Professor, Biology
University of Maine at Farmington
Farmington, Maine
Joe Bartoszek
Environmental Specialist
Division of Surface Water, Water Quality Unit
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
Dayton, Ohio
Carol J. Baskauf, Ph.D.
Professor, Biology
Austin Peay State University
Clarksville, Tennessee
Gordon Becker, M.S.
Senior Scientist
Center for Ecosystem Management &
Restoration
Oakland, California
Peter Bednekoff, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Biology
Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, Michigan
James Beets
Chair, Department of Marine Science
University of Hawaii-Hilo
Hilo, Hawaii
Paul Beier, Ph.D.
Professor, School of Forestry
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, Arizona
Michael A. Bell, Ph.D.
Department of Ecology & Evolution
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, New York
Tom Bell
Biology Teacher, Retired
Grey Cloud Island
Saint Paul Park, Minnesota
Craig W. Benkman, Ph.D.
Professor, Zoology & Physiology
University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming
David H. Benzing, Ph.D.
Professor, Biology
Oberlin College
Oberlin, Ohio
May R. Berenbaum, Ph.D.
Swanlund Professor and Head, Entomology
University of Illinois
Urbana, Illinois
David J. Berg, Ph.D.
Professor, Zoology
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio
Brad Bergstrom, Ph.D.
Professor, Biology
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia
Carolyn Bergstrom, Ph.D.
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Bamfield Marine Science Center
British Columbia, Canada
Robert L. Beschta, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor, Forest Hydrology
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon
Alfred Beulig, Ph.D.
Professor, Biology
New College of Florida
Sarasota, Florida
5
Charles Birkeland, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor, Zoology
University of Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
John G. Bishop, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Biology
Washington State University
Vancouver, Washington
Norman A. Bishop
Resources Interpreter, Retired
National Park Service
Bozeman, Montana
Scott Hoffman Black
Ecologist/Entomologist
Executive Director
Portland, Oregon
Robert Blaisdell, Ph.D.
Rangeland Ecologist, Retired
Bayfield, Colorado
David E. Blockstein, Ph.D.
Chair, The Ornithological Council
Washington, District of Columbia
Jessica Blois
Ph.D. Candidate, Biological Sciences
Stanford University
Stanford, California
Michael H. Blust, Ph.D.
Professor, Biology
Green Mountain College
Poultney, Vermont
Jane H. Bock, Ph.D.
Professor Emerita, Ecology &
Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
P. Dee Boersma, Ph.D.
Wadsworth Endowed Chair, Conservation
Science
Professor, Biology
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington
Stephanie Bohlman, Ph.D.
Research Scientist, Ecology & Evolutionary
Biology
Princeton University
Princeton, New Jersey
Stephen K. Boss, Ph.D.
Director, Environmental Dynamics Program
Department of Geosciences
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Reed Bowman, Ph.D.
Associate Research Biologist
Head, Avian Ecology Lab
Archbold Biological Station
Lake Placid, Florida
Richard L. Boyce, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Forest Ecologist
Northern Kentucky University
Highland Heights, Kentucky
David Barton Bray, Ph.D.
Department of Environmental Studies
Florida International University
Miami, Florida
Richard A. Bradley, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Evolution, Ecology &
Organismal Biology
Ohio State University
Marion, Ohio
Steven W. Brewer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Plant Ecology
University of North Carolina, Wilmington
Wilmington, North Carolina
Martin R. Brittan, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Biological Sciences
California State University Sacramento
Sacramento, California
William R. Bromer, Ph.D.
Professor, Biology & Environmental Science
University of St. Francis
Joliet, Illinois
6
Lincoln P. Brower, Ph.D.
Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus,
Zoology
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida
David Brown, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biology &
Environmental Science
Marietta College
Marietta, Ohio
Greg Brown, Ph.D.
Professor, Natural Resource Management
Green Mountain College
Poultney, Vermont
Jeremy M. Brown
Ph.D. Candidate, Ecology, Evolution &
Behavior
University of Texas, Austin
Austin, Texas
Joyce Marie Brown
EPA STAR Fellow, BGSA President
Ph.D. Student, Conservation Biology
University of Central Florida
Orlando, Florida
Milford Brown, Ph.D.
Plant Biochemist/Physiologist, Retired
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Sharon T. Brown
Wildlife Biologist
Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife Inc.
Dolgeville, New York
Kurt Brownell
Natural Resources Specialist
St. Paul District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Mississippi River Natural Resource Project
La Crescent, Minnesota
Deborah Buitron, Ph.D.
Research Associate, Biology
North Dakota State University
Fargo, North Dakota
Abel Bult-Ito, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Biology
Institute of Arctic Biology
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, Alaska
Tom Bultman
Department of Biology
Hope College
Holland, Michigan
Robyn J. Burnham, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary
Biology and Curator of Paleontology
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
George S. Bush
Soil Scientist
Port Townsend, Washington
Ramona J. Butz
Ph.D. Candidate, Ecology
University of California, Davis
Davis, California
James Byers, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Zoology
University of New Hampshire
Durham, New Hampshire
Bernard H. Byrnes, Ph.D.
Soil Science
Wild South
Moulton, Alabama
Diane Campbell, Ph.D.
Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of California
Irvine, California
Philip D. Cantino, Ph.D.
Professor, Environmental & Plant Biology
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio
Ken Carloni, Ph.D.
Forest Ecologist
Umpqua Community College
Roseburg, Oregon
And many others..............................................about 550, actually