Thoughtful essay. Excerpt: “[Sen.] Wyden’s support of pre-fire management is certainly a step in the right direction. But without equal attention given to post-fire management, Oregon’s legacy of beautiful, forest landscapes will evolve into forestland deserts covered by brush and dead, gray-ghost trees.”
I completely agree!
Is the “timber value” referred to ($4 billion) net of the costs of removing it (which also could have been used for all those other good things)? Also, the concept of “waste” has to take into account the “value” of unlogged burned areas (including to those who don’t find logged areas “beautiful”). It is not as simple as “anything not made into an economic good is wasted.”