Logging interests and pro-business federal agencies claim that we need to destroy much of our wild forests to help prevent dangerous forest fires. In fact, the reverse is true: logging has been shown to multiply the risk of catastrophic forest fires. That's because timber companies cut down the largest trees, which are the most resistant to fire, leaving behind flammable smaller trees and piles of debris.
Ironically, as the mythology of the forest fire has grown, our response has created conditions that inevitably lead to even bigger blazes. Through understanding forest fires, we can change course and break the cycle that leads to catastrophic infernos. By respecting the nature of forest fires and taking sensible steps that recognize their role in a healthy forest, we can protect homes, save American taxpayers money, defuse fire threats, and strengthen the heritage we call our nation's forests.
"Some public officials have tried to blame environmentalists for the forest fires that are ravaging Colorado, Arizona, and other Western states. These attempts to scapegoat environmentalists are a disturbing display of cynical politics," says Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club.
"Scientists have determined these fire problems stem from three problems: nearly a century of fire suppression that removed the natural role fire plays in healthy forests, an extreme multi-year drought and decades of commercial logging that (have) removed large, fire-resistant trees."
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