Responsible forest management is not simply another name for logging

By Karen Jackson
The Salt Lake Tribune
September 20, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The recent Public Forum letter criticizing the Fix Our Forests Act (FOFA) raises legitimate concerns about protecting forests and addressing climate change. But portraying the bipartisan legislation primarily as an effort to expedite logging misses much of what the bill is intended to accomplish. Climate change is making wildfires more dangerous. …We need to address both problems. Recent research provides a striking example. Scientists examined 164 forest plots burned during California’s massive 2021 Dixie Fire. In untreated forests, there was a 58% probability that every tree in a plot would be killed. Thinning alone lowered that risk to 48%. But where thinning had been followed by prescribed fire, the probability of complete tree mortality fell to just 4%. That distinction matters. Responsible forest management is not simply another name for logging. The research suggests that thinning alone provides limited protection unless surface fuels are also addressed. Prescribed fire was a critical part of the treatment.

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