Logging Does Not Prevent Forest Fires
Re “Bush Plan Seeks More Sierra Logging,” Feb. 4: The latest proposal to resume intensive logging in the Sierra Nevada forests is yet another effort by the Bush administration to roll back all our environmental protection laws.
This is a complete reversal of the U.S. Forest Service’s Sierra Nevada plan based on 10 years of scientific study and public input. The plan was designed to restore these over-logged forests and put greater emphasis on protecting the watershed and wildlife and on the growing recreational use of these forests. Now the Forest Service inexplicably says the new regulations are too restrictive and that logging is the way to prevent forest fires.
Taking out large trees with their cooling canopy and creating two-acre openings only dries out the forest and makes it more volatile. Go figure.
Patti Laursen
Los Angeles
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