'Rapid Warming' Spreads Havoc in Canada's Forests

Originally posted by Duzey...The government wants to minimize the economic impact for the towns that depend on forestry by harvesting the dead trees over time because the quality doesn't start to decline for over 10 years....
The irony being that if we didn't run around trying to prevent fires, this forest would have burned years ago and there wouldn't be so many mature trees for the beetle to infest.

The decay varies by species and local conditions. Locally, true fir starts losing value immediately, with a 50% loss of value by the second summer. Pines last a bit longer at 2-3 years. Cedar and Douglas-Fir will last longer, but not indefinitely. Even at advanced decay they may still have some value as fuel for biomass powerplants. That gives it a use rather than wasting it, but it is not economical. You lose money hauling it to the powerplant, but it is still better than leaving it in the forest.

The fire issue is more complex. Forest fires burn more than trees. Watershed, communities, air quality, endangered species, local tourism economies, and wildlife habitat are all negatively impacted by fires. Judicious use of forest management by appropriate harvesting would keep density down without the negative impacts listed above. Even improve the other resources.

The days of just letting fires burn are gone and will not return.

ahh you have to love mans strugle agianst nature where man allways thinks its allways about him.