The Importance of Salvage Logging After Wildfires
Across California and the Western U.S., mega-fires have left behind apocalyptic landscapes—millions of acres of scorched forest, destroyed wildlife habitat, and obliterated infrastructure, including once-accessible backcountry roads and recreation trails.
The damage isn’t just visual—it’s logistical. Forest management plans built over decades have been incinerated, and the roads and trails that supported firefighting, outdoor recreation, and timber access are now blocked, buried, or erased.
Meanwhile, federal agencies like the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) are caught in a vice. Budgets are shrinking. Staff numbers are down. Priorities have shifted. Even when burned trees are still viable for timber—charred on the outside, but salvageable inside—the ability to recover them is nearly impossible under current conditions.
Here’s the dilemma:
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There are “gazillions” of downed and standing dead trees left to rot and fuel the next firestorm.
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Roads and trails are impassable, disappearing faster than they can be reclaimed.
- Burned, dead trees are falling across roads and trails (or leaning like a widow-maker) by untold numbers
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Funding, staffing, and political will have not kept pace with the scale of destruction.
Even in good budget years, the manpower and logistics required to conduct salvage logging at scale would be monumental. In today’s climate, the task borders on fantasy.
But this matters.
Because salvage logging isn’t just about recovering timber—it’s about restoration. Rebuilding roads. Reopening access. Reducing fuel loads. Giving the land a chance to recover without becoming a ticking time bomb of dead biomass.
What Can Be Done?
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Support salvage efforts that are science-based, ecologically sensitive, and access-minded.
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Push for (support) emergency funding tied directly to road/trail recovery and fuels management. Write support letters to grant providers/agencies.
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Hold agencies accountable for restoration timelines and public access reopening.
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Join advocacy groups that understand the balance between conservation and active forest management. Step up and volunteer to help where you can.
The window to act is short—trees deteriorate quickly, and the opportunity to salvage and restore fades with each season. Let’s not let this become another chapter in what could have been done.
✅ Stay involved. Speak up. Let’s salvage what we can—before it’s too late.
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