Dear HCN,
To suggest that logging
in some way is a way towards forest health is like the medieval
doctors who thought the best way to save a dying patient was to
bleed them to rid them of “bad blood.”
From an
ecological perspective, there is no forest “health” problem.
Disease, insects, and yes, even large fires are the normal course
of events in forest ecosystems. The increase in these events is an
indication that forest ecosystems are still functioning, and
attempting to correct the imbalances created by 100 years of
forestry. Logging truncates these activities, removes biomass, and
creates other problems such as increased sedimentation, creation of
roads, and other effects that lead to unhealthy forest ecosystems
(HCN, 9/19/94).
Dead trees, the bane of
foresters, are, ecologically speaking, more valuable to the forest
ecosystem than live ones. They provide long-term nutrient sources
for soils, snags that provide habitat for cavity-nesting birds,
snags that fall into streams creating fish habitat, and even cover
for some wildlife. I could go on and on, but the important point is
that the best solution for the forest “health” problem is to keep
foresters, loggers and firefighters out of the woods and leave the
forests alone.
George
Wuerthner
Eugene,
Oregon
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Leave forests alone.
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