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post fire salvage loggingGiven the many large fires in recent decades and the many ecosystem values that people want from forests, post-fire salvage logging will continue to be a controversial timber treatment. The results of post-fire logging can vary greatly from place to place because post-fire logging varies in number and size of trees left, whether the largest trees and green trees are left or removed, the equipment used to log, the timing of the logging, and the limits imposed on road building and logging to minimize site impacts.

Opinions on post-fire salvage logging vary greatly. Proponents of salvage logging after fire emphasize the need for prompt harvest because the economic value of timber declines rapidly in fire-damaged trees. Opponents of salvage logging worry that this is adding ‘insult to injury’ by imposing logging with attendant soil disturbance and soil erosion potential. Ecologists express concern that cavity-nesting birds and other wildlife can be negatively affected by harvesting, particularly if logging is extensive and few trees are left.

The publications and media in this hot topic address the effects of salvage logging on plants, biodiversity, and cavity-nesting birds. They also cover a range of research that includes, but is not limited to, the ecological impacts of salvage logging; the effects of salvage logging on soil, sediment production, mountain pine beetles, and riparian systems.

This hot topic was developed in partnership with the University of Idaho.

Conference Proceedings

Technical Reports/White Papers

Publications

2022

Microenvironment characteristics and early regeneration after the 2018 Spring Creek Wildfire and post-fire logging in Colorado, USA
Jesse T. Wooten et al.

2021

Tamm review: Does salvage logging mitigate subsequent forest disturbances?
Alexandro B. Leverkus et al.
Effectiveness of post‐fire salvage logging stream buffer management for hillslope erosion in the U.S. Inland Northwest Mountains
Peter R. Robichaud et al.
Factors affecting connectivity and sediment yields following wildfire and post‐fire salvage logging in California's Sierra Nevada
Will H. Olsen et al.
Effectiveness of post‐fire salvage logging stream buffer management
Peter R. Robichaud et al.
Compaction and cover effects on runoff and erosion in post‐fire salvage logged areas in the Valley Fire, California
Sergio A. Prats et al.

2020

Wildfire severity and postfire salvage harvest effects on long‐term forest regeneration
Nicholas A. Povak et al.
Evaluating post-wildfire logging-slash cover treatment to reduce hillslope erosion after salvage logging using ground measurements and remote sensing
Peter R. Robichaud et al.
Effects of post-fire management on dead woody fuel dynamics and stand structure in a severely burned mixed-conifer forest, in northeastern Washington State, USA
Morris C. Johnson et al.
Hillslope sediment production after wildfire and post-fire forest management in northern California
Ryan P. Cole et al.
Effects of post-fire management on dead woody fuel dynamics and standstructure in a severely burned mixed-conifer forest, in northeasternWashington State, USA
Morris C. Johnson et al.

2019

The effects of post-wildfire salvage logging on plant reproductive success and pollination in Symphoricarpos albus, a fire-tolerant shrub
Laura J. Heil et al.
Ponderosa pine regeneration, wildland fuels management, and habitat conservation: identifying trade-offs following wildfire
Victoria M. Donovan et al.

2018

Fuel mass and stand structure 13 years after logging of a severely burned ponderosa pine forest in northeastern Oregon, U.S.A
James D. McIver et al.
Interactions between large high-severity fires and salvage logging on a short return interval reduce the regrowth of fire-prone serotinous forests
Angela Taboada et al.
Salvage logging effects on regulating and supporting ecosystem services - a systematic map
Alexandro B. Leverkus et al.
Salvage logging effects on regulating and supporting ecosystem services — a systematic map
Alexandro B. Leverkus et al.

2017

Impacts of salvage logging on biodiversity – A meta-analysis
Simon Thorn et al.

2016

Post-fire logging produces minimal persistent impacts on understory vegetation in northeastern Oregon, USA
David W. Peterson et al.
Rill erosion in burned and salvage logged western montane forests: effects of logging equipment type, traffic level, and slash treatment
Joseph W. Wagenbrenner et al.
Effects of post-fire logging on fuel dynamics in a mixed-conifer forest, Oregon, USA: a 10-year assessment
John L. Campbell et al.
Evaluating the ecological impacts of salvage logging: can natural and anthropogenic disturbances promote coexistence?
Alejandro A. Royo et al.

2015

Effects of post-fire salvage logging and a skid trail treatment on ground cover, soils, and sediment production in the interior western United States
Joseph W. Wagenbrenner et al.
Hillslope erosion two and three years after wildfire, skyline salvage logging, and site preparation in southern Oregon, USA
Robert A. Slesak et al.
Vegetation response to burn severity, native grass seeding, and salvage logging
Penelope Morgan et al.
Post-fire logging reduces surface woody fuels up to four decades following wildfire
David W. Peterson et al.

2014

Ecological consequences of mountain pine beetle outbreaks for wildlife in western North American forests
Victoria A. Saab et al.

2013

Comparing the effect of salvage logging on birds in the Mediterranean Basin and the Rocky Mountains: common patterns, different conservation implications
Josep Rost et al.
Perspectives on disconnects between scientific information and management decisions on post-fire recovery in western US
Xiaoli Chen et al.

2012

Utility of remotely sensed imagery for assessing the impact of salvage logging after forest fires
Sarah A. Lewis et al.

2011

The forgotten stage of forest succession: early‐successional ecosystems on forest sites
Mark E. Swanson et al.
Effects of post-fire salvage logging on cavity-nesting birds and small mammals in southeastern Montana
William J. Kronland et al.
Salvage Logging Versus the Use of Burnt Wood as a Nurse Object to Promote Post‐Fire Tree Seedling Establishment
Jorge Castro et al.

2009

Sediment production following severe wildfire and post-fire salvage logging in the Rocky Mountain headwaters of the Oldman River Basin, Alberta
Uldis Silins et al.
Influences of postfire salvage logging on forest birds in the Eastern Cascades, Oregon, USA
Rebecca Cahall et al.
Nest-site selection by cavity-nesting birds in relation to postfire salvage logging
Victoria A. Saab et al.

2007

Nest densities of cavity-nesting birds in relation to postfire salvage logging and time since wildfire
Victoria A. Saab et al.

2006

Wildfire, timber salvage, and the economics of expediency
Jeffrey P. Prestemon et al.
Post-fire logging debate ignores many issues
Dominick A. DellaSala et al.
Managing fire-prone forests in the Western United States
Reed F. Noss et al.
Salvage harvesting–past lessons and future issues
David B. Lindenmayer
Postfire logging in riparian ecosystems
Gordon H. Reeves et al.
The effects of postfire salvage logging on cavity-nesting birds
Richard L. Hutto et al.
Post-wildfire logging hinders regeneration and increases fire risk
Daniel C. Donato et al.
Snag longevity in relation to wildfire and postfire salvage logging
Robin E. Russell et al.
Toward meaningful snag-management guidelines for postfire salvage logging in North American conifer forests
Richard L. Hutto
Salvage logging, ecosystem processes, and biodiversity conservation
D.B. Lindenmeyer et al.

2004

Postfire management on forested public lands of the western United States
Robert L. Beschta et al.
Salvage harvesting policies after natural disturbance
David B. Lindenmayer et al.
The effects of postfire salvage logging on aquatic ecosystems in the American West
James R. Karr et al.

2003

Responses of stream benthic macroinvertebrates to fire
G. Wayne Minshall

2002

Postfire logging: is it beneficial to a forest?
Sally Duncan
Effects of wildfire and post-fire salvage logging on avian communities in conifer-dominated forests of the western United States
Natasha B. Kotliar et al.

2001

Effects of stand-replacement fire and salvage logging on a cavity-nesting bird community in eastern Cascades, Washington
Maryellen Haggard et al.

2000

Environmental effects of postfire logging: literature review and annotated bibliography
James D. McIver et al.