"Forest Health" and Salvage Index
Mudslides
- Percent of major slides in logged/roaded watersheds: 77.3 (1)
- Percent of major slides in undeveloped watersheds: 22.7 (1)
- Percent of failures associated with logging roads: 66.3 (1)
Insects and Diseases
- Percent (of 130,000 trees sampled across ID, MT, OR, WY, and WA) of standing trees that are "diseased" or "insect-infested": less than 1 (2)
Root Disease
- Last time that levels of root disease were at today's level: 1972-1974 (2)
- Number of "emergencies" the Forest Service declared then: 0 (2)
Forest Health
- Assessment of general forest health in 1994: "significant improvement over the last 70 years" (7)
- Assertion of general forest health in "Salvage Rider" 1995: Not mentioned
Dead Trees
- # of species of birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles, nation-wide who use dead trees for food, nesting, or shelter: 149, 73, 93 (and nearly all fish) (10)
Jobs
- Number of jobs that Congressman Taylor claimed the salvage rider would directly and indirectly create in the forest products industry: approximately 22,900 (3)
- Change in employment in the forest products industry as of 2nd quarter of 1995 in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and California: No change (3)
The Federal Debt
- Dollars of federal taxes Congressman Taylor said his 22,900 added jobs would produce: $150,000,000 (3)
- Dollars added to the national debt between 1992-1994 to harvest 18 billion board feet of timber from 2.2 million acres of National Forest: $1 billion (3)
- Number of forests out of 118 that lost money: 103 (3)
- Nation-wide average loss per harvested acre: $450 (3)
- Number of National Forests in Montana and Idaho that lost money lost money between 1992 and 1994: All (3)
Tree Regeneration
- % of regeneration efforts that have been certified as being "satisfactory" between 1977 and 1994: less than 50 (3)
- Cost per acre for regeneration efforts between 1977 and 1994: $314 (planted), $663 (certified) (3)
Some Positive Effects of Root Disease
- It creates microclimates;
- provides habitat;
- builds soil;
- provides a protective "mat" for watersheds;
- provides thermal protection for wildlife;
- removes unsuitable trees from stands;
- and returns biomass to the system. (2)
Things the Forest Service Overlooked when it Declared an Emergency
- Root disease has declined in intensity in the last ten years (2)
- Root disease was rarely diagnosed in inventories prior to the 1980s (2)
- Root disease peaks periodically (2)
- Root disease has been far more destructive in the past then it is now (2)
Failures of the Past: Former Forest Service Strategies for Dealing with Insects and Disease
Ribes Eradication Program for Blister Rust Control (1950s-1960s)
- Employed thousands of workers (2)
- Merited its own research station (2)
- Resulted in no effect to the disease (2)
Forest Service painted White Pine trees with antibiotics (1950s-1960s)
- Resulted in later outbreaks (2)
- Made many workers ill (2)
Forest Service cut buffers around outbreaks of oak wilt (1950s)
- Did nothing to stop the spread of disease (2
- More trees were lost to the treatment than were to the disease (2)
- Forest Service sprayed lindane on trees to control mountain pine beetles (1970s)
- The oil-based spray did more damage to the trees than the beetles (2)
And this leads us on to the Subversion of the Public Process.
Back to the Beginning
Sources
1. Espinosa, Al. "Progress Report: Upper Lochsa Watershed and Flood Study." Moscow: Unpublished. 1995.
2. "Testimony of Dr. Arthur D. Partridge on Forest Health an the Salvage Sale Situation National Forests and Bureau of Land Management Lands before a Joint Oversight Hearing of the Subcommittees on National Parks, Forests and Lands and Resource Conservation, Research and Forestry of the Committees on Resources and Agriculture on behalf of Western Forest Campaign, National Audubon Society, and Inland Empire Public Lands Council." Washington: US Congress.
3. Forest Service. "Production, Prices, and Employment and Trade, 2d Quarter 1995."
4. Public Law 104-19. Section 2001(a)(3).
5. Public Law 104-19. Section 2001(b)(1).
6. Sampson, R. N., and D. L. Adams, Eds. Assessing Forest Ecosystem Health in the Inland West. Ithaca: Haworth.
7. USDA Forest Service. "America's Forests: 1994 Health Update." Washington DC: Agriculture Information Bulletin 696. 1993
8. Sampson, R. N., and D. L. Adams, Eds. Assessing Forest Ecosystem Health in the Inland West. Washington D.C.: The Forest Policy Center.1991
9. Johnson, E. A., and C. P. S. Larsen. "Climatically Induced Change in fire frequency in the Southern Canadian Rockies." Ecology 72(1):194-201. 1990
10. Forest Service. U.S. GPO 1990-0-792-461. 1988
11. Christensen et al. "Interpreting the Yellowstone Fires of 1988." Bioscience 39:678-685.


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