Opinion: Fear of forest fires fuels unnecessary and unhelpful logging on public lands

Humanity’s earliest irrational fear of forests had to do with “evil spirits,” along with anxiety over mostly harmless wildlife. Soon it was fretting over bandits, outlaws, and (gasp!) Native Americans. Sad to say, each of these phobias have been exploited by corporate and government interests to cut down forests in a cynical ploy to tame wild nature.

Today in Colorado and across the West the boogeyman used to scare us into cutting down forests is the natural and essential process of wildfire. While rarely reported in media, right now millions of acres of Colorado’s public lands (tens of millions across the West) are on the chopping block, supposedly in the name of protecting communities from wildfire.

This includes what appears to be the state’s largest logging project in recent times, the “Lower North South Vegetation Management,” in Pike-San Isabel National Forest.

Yet a vast and growing body of peer-reviewed science (including from Forest Service studies) finds “fuel reduction” logging not only ineffective at stopping fires that threaten communities but often counterproductive.

Indeed, evidence (and simple observation) proves that cutting trees dries out and heats up the forest microclimate, which can make fires start easier, burn more intensely — including igniting crown fires — while opening stands to wind, which can spread flames more quickly to people, making it harder to escape and overwhelming firefighters.

No one is saying we shouldn’t adapt to the reality of wildfire. However, the scientific consensus is that home hardening (non-flammable roofs, screened vents, clean gutters, etc.) and defensible space pruning 15-60 feet around homes is the only proven way to keep structures from burning.

Taking “Firewise” precautions in the West makes good sense. But fire phobia only triggers panic, one that’s currently siphoning billions of tax dollars to log nearly every single national forest, state park, and county open space, likely only increasing the fire danger to communities.

Of course, even the most thorough hardening can’t one-hundred percent guarantee that a home won’t burn. But anyone who chooses to live in the fire plain — as with a flood plain or seashore — must accept a certain small risk of, well, nature being natural.

Luckily, there’s a cure for those suffering from forest fire phobia. By moving out of the wild mountains into a beautiful city like Denver — or even safer, Chicago — they can calm their nerves, with only a small number of tended trees in managed parks to trouble them.

Meanwhile, the rest of us can harden our homes so as to peacefully co-exist with the forest and wildlife that is the whole reason we live here in the first place.

Josh Schlossberg is an award-winning investigative journalist (on sabbatical), science writer, and Colorado Organizer for Eco-Integrity Alliance. 

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