Seattle Times – Thirty years ago, fuels-reduction work in the national forests to prevent mega-fires was promoted like a religious revival. It involved logging projects focusing on thinning forests to mitigate the damage caused by past timber cutting and fire suppression. But after years of analysis of “fuels-reduction” projects, the painful facts have arrived.
Let’s just say that the runaway train of massive U.S. Forest Service logging projects needs to be derailed. An increasing body of science is telling us these do not reduce wildfire risk, and can even make fires worse.