Their asking all the wrong questions for political purposes. Does wildfire suppression have any effect on insect infestation? Whats wrong with harvesting beetle killed trees if it can be done profitably? A couple of key questions ignored.

As usual, there are kernels of truth interspersed with the eco-drama of anti-forestry. Yes, careful salvage can be done well, especially if salvage can proceed as soon as possible. Generally, the success of a salvage project should be based on how much of the smallest diameter merchantable timber is removed and utilized.

However, those pure stands of lodgepoles have little value, both on a logtruck and on the ground. Finding a use for that lodgepole stuff would be great but, in today's economy, there is no demand from possible products. Now, if there could be a net environmental value for removing a portion of that biomass, then maybe we should look into it. For these dead lodgepole stands, the best thing we can do is to reduce the fuels buildup, by any way possible, to reduce future fire intensities. That could easily mean broadcast burning when conditions are wet. That's not something that would make the Forest Service popular with locals. Those pure lodgepole stands will burn. It is normal but, it would be interesting to see what could be "sculpted" out of this "natural monoculture". Finding ways to break the lodgepole's new dominance.

In the mixed pine stands, we desperately need to restore the drought and fire resistant ponderosa pines. Lodgepoles readily invade other natural stands and provide ladders fuels to kill the old growth.

Trading 400 year old p. pine forests for highly flammable 80 year old lodgepole stands is what we are currently seeing. And, now that those 80 year old lodgepole stands are dying and ready to burn, we'll have unnaturally-vast lodgepole "plantation" monocultures.

You seem to be obsessed with the idea that lodge pole is taking over Ponderosa Pine habitat. In actuality how much of this is going on in terms of acres?

Yes, Mickey, they ARE!! It's what they DO! And, WE are helping them! Yes, all those bad practices of the past have combined with the bad practices of today. And we're seeing truly BAD things happening, today.

Here's an attempt at a simple timeline. P. pines were dominant where natives lived. The trees exploited man's "interference" and dominated. The white man came and the native land burning died along with many tribes. Lodgepoles were the undesired tree, as Indians knew very well that burning them when they were small was the best way to control them, and keep their tribe safe. With fire suppression now in force for many decades, the ever-invading lodgepoles will overtake the advantages that the ponderosa pine once had. When those mixed pine stands burn, they burn hot and kill everything.....except the lodgepole seeds. Ponderosa pines can take decades to make progress into a large burn.

Actually, I quite prefer having old growth "yellow-bellies" and an open understory over thickets of Doug-fir and and lodgepole. I'd bet that some pines have survived a dozen fires over its lifetime, only to be torched by the "invaders" from underneath, after stealing their water, as well.

Yes, I find it tragic that some might prefer the flammable lodgepoles over the drought-resistant and love-lived ponderosas.