"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

• Employed thousands of workers (2)
• Merited its own research station (2)
• Resulted in no effect to the disease (2)

• Resulted in later outbreaks (2)
• Made many workers ill (2)

• 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)

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