CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Salvage Timber Supply Increased

Wildfires and drought have more than doubled the amount of salvage timber the U.S. Forest Service plans to sell to loggers, officials said. Two-thirds of all timber sold on federal lands will be salvage material this year, compared to the average 15%, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman said. Environmental groups filed lawsuits to prevent removal of salvage timber after forest fires in 1987 and 1988. Environmentalists argue that fires so damaged the land that logging should be permitted only if it is proven that the activity will not cause more problems. Timber industry officials say the decision to allow greater sales of salvage timber could cut their profits as the cheaper wood takes the place of more valuable lumber harvested from living trees. “The salvaged trees can’t be used to make high-value molding, for example, so there’s a value loss,” said John Hoffmann, director of timber sales services for the Timber Assn. of California.