Salvage logging in the national forests has recently become highly contentious. Historically, salvage logging occupied a relatively small niche in the U.S. Forest Service's timber sales program, focusing on speedy removal of dead and dying trees. Salvage logging emerged as a major political issue and environmental concern in 1995, when Congress passed the "logging rider" as part of a supplemental appropriations bill. The rider created an Emergency Salvage Timber Sale Program and exempted salvage sales from environmental laws until the end of 1996.

To better inform the policy debate over salvage, The Wilderness Society and National Audubon Society recently conducted an in-depth assessment of the Forest Service's salvage timber program. Following are the primary findings of the assessment:

• Salvage logging has become an increasingly dominant management practice in national forests over the past 20 years, with salvage sales representing nearly half of the timber volume offered in 1995. Salvage volume increased from 13.7 billion board feet between 1977 and 1986 to 19.0 billion board feet between 1987 and 1996, a 39 percent increase. During the same intervals, the volume of timber offered declined 48 percent.
  
• The Northern Rockies, Pacific Northwest, and California have been the focus of most salvage activity during the 1990s, producing about 80 percent of all national forest salvage timber.
  
• Tree mortality data contradict the notion that America's forests are suffering from unnatural amounts of dead trees. Annual mortality has remained well below one percent of live tree volume in all regions for the last 40 years. Increases in dead tree volume in eastern forests are a sign of long-term forest recovery, not worsening forest health.
  
• While the acreage burned by forest fires has increased in the past decade, it is consistent with fire occurrences in the early 1900s prior to the advent of aggressive fire suppression. Salvage logging is not likely to reduce the incidence or severity of forest fires; indeed, salvage operations can exacerbate fire danger.
  
• Forests in roadless areas tend to be in the best ecological condition and the most vulnerable to damage from salvage logging. Numerous roadless areas are currently threatened with salvage logging.
  
• The Forest Service used its discretion under the Emergency Salvage Timber Sale Program to include substantial amounts of live, green trees in salvage sales.
  
• Increased salvage logging is not certain to benefit workers, local communities, or county governments. National forest recreation, which is adversely affected by salvage logging, produces 30 times more income and employment than national forest logging.
  
• Environmental and forest management laws contain numerous exemptions for salvage logging, such as relaxed requirements for environmental review and limitations on clearcut size.
  
• Relatively few salvage sales are administratively appealed. In 1995, 80 percent of all timber sales were not appealed.
  
• The logging rider proved to be an effective bar to litigation of salvage sales. In all five lawsuits challenging salvage logging under the rider, the courts have dismissed the cases due to the rider's blanket exemption from environmental laws, despite strong evidence of illegality. Some of the most obvious cases are timber sales that were initially invalidated by appeals or lawsuits but then reissued as salvage sales.
  

The results of the assessment suggest that salvage logging practices and policies in the national forests are in need of reform. The 1995 salvage logging rider has resulted in actions that threaten the integrity of America's natural heritage. Far from being the win-win forest management strategy claimed by its proponents, salvage logging as currently practiced is a loser for both the environment and the economy.

Salvage logging can be an ecologically sound part of a sustainable forest management program. However, even under normal legal safeguards, salvage logging should not be viewed as ecologically benign. It has demonstrable negative impacts on forest ecosystems, and should only be used with caution and with full recognition of its potential impacts.

The current system of regulatory and fiscal incentives for salvage logging is unwarranted. The funding of salvage logging presents incentives that can lead to decisions that degrade ecosystem health. The Timber Salvage Fund encourages managers to classify sales as salvage to generate revenues to support future work. Reduced prices of salvage timber and possibly reduced costs associated with significantly reduced environmental standards make salvage an appealing option for both purchaser and seller. More often than not, costs of salvage logging are borne by the American taxpayer, rather than the industry benefiting from salvage logging.

The Wilderness Society and National Audubon Society recommend an end to the exemptions and incentives in existing law that encourage destructive salvage logging. We recommend further that national forest management be reformed to protect the health of forest ecosystems. We make the following specific recommendations to Congress and the Administration:

1. Reject further legislation that weakens forest protections.
2. Redefine salvage as dead and dying trees only.
3. Restrict salvage logging to the suitable timber base.
4. Abolish the Timber Salvage Fund.
5. Protect areas in good ecological condition before undertaking restoration.
6. Develop forest plans that can adapt to inevitable disturbance.
7. Design logging to fit within the historical range of variability of disturbance effects.
8. Refrain from logging that is ecologically destructive and economically unsound.