Letter: Tree harvesting worsens danger of wildfires

Saturday, Sept. 9, 2000 | 2:31 a.m.

Mike O'Callaghan's Sept. 3 "Where I Stand" column was both compassionate and insightful. He paid respect to firefighters for their hard work and sacrifices and came to a wise conclusion about our country's forests.

I agree with his statement, "Certainly cutting down the forests is not the way to save them." Timber harvesting opens up a forest, allowing more sunlight to penetrate to the forest floor causing the fine fuels, the needles, and small sticks to dry faster and stay dry longer. Wind is able to penetrate into an open forest. Being more directly affected by the wind, after a fire starts, it can sometimes spread faster and become bigger. Areas that are more highly roaded actually have a higher potential for catastrophic wildfires than the wilderness or large unroaded areas.

These same wild places in our national forests, which remain unroaded, are also ecologically critical. I hope that we can keep them wild and unspoiled, for today and tomorrow ... and forever.

JUDITH H PIXLEY

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