To quote from their paper, the authors found “forests with higher levels of protection had lower severity values even though they are generally identified as having the highest overall levels of biomass and fuel loading.”

This is in direct contrast to the assertions of Bosworth and Blackwell that our forests need to be logged to remove “fuels.”

They also appear to ignore the fact that natural processes like bark beetles, wildfire, and so forth have been shown to reduce and contain wildfires and are vital to restoring healthy forest ecosystems.

If the goal is to preclude large wildfires, we would be wise to designate more wilderness as advocated by the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act, which would prohibit the Forest Service from active timber management.

Bosworth and Blackwell disregard the numerous scientific studies that demonstrate that logging damages and impoverishes forest ecosystems.

Logging removes biomass (dead wood), nutrients, carbon, and fragments wildlife habitat. Logging equipment compacts soils and disturbance of soils creates a perfect seedbed for exotic weeds — perhaps one of the greatest threats to our forests. And logging roads are a major source of sediment in our streams, negatively impacting fisheries.