New Science Challenges Assumptions That Utah “Fuel Reduction” Logging Will Protect Communities from Wildfire

Outdated land management practices in Utah’s Salt Lake and Summit Counties ignore a large and growing body of peer-reviewed scientific papers disputing claims that “thinning” trees protects communities from wildfires.

The aggressive cutting in Summit Park Open Space has exposed the forest to much hotter, drier, and windier conditions, with slashed trees left behind in massive kindling piles.

The scientific literature suggests that the ecological damage to keystone species, such as the old oaks in Parley’s Canyon in the name of “fuels reduction,” will not protect communities as promised. More than 200 scientists wrote a letter to Congress stating, “Removing trees can alter a forest’s microclimate, and can often increase fire intensity. In contrast, forests protected from logging, and those with high carbon biomass and carbon storage, more often burn at equal or lower intensities when fires do occur.”

Scientists, including a growing list employed by the U.S. Forest Service, are discovering that denser forests tend to burn at lower intensity—not higher, as the public has been led to believe. These dense and older forests create less fire-prone microclimates and buffer the negative effects of climate change.

Perpetuating the myth that our forests are “overgrown” has led to massive support for “thinning”—a euphemism for logging that includes clearcutting and logging mature and old growth trees—from those in the industry bolstered by often one-sided media reports that ignore the science contesting these projects. The unfortunate reality is that homes near logged areas are now more susceptible to wind, and wind is the predominant driver of fires—not “fuels” or vegetation. Fires that rage through logged areas spread faster, often directly towards homes that these projects are supposed to protect.

The proven solution to protecting communities and firefighters is “home hardening,” which involves measures such as installing non-flammable roofs and defensible space 15-60 feet around homes. The steady flow of taxpayer dollars to “thinning” forests deprives communities of funding for home hardening while giving the public a false sense of security.

“There is nothing benign about the ‘fuel reduction’ projects being carried out in Summit County and beyond,” says Rebecca Diehl, Utah Organizer for Eco-Integrity Alliance. “And the exaggeration that such projects will protect communities and make forests healthier, is putting us all at risk.”