Santa Fe Forest Coalition

Key quotes:

• Active management actually increases the likelihood of wildfire.


• Logging and thinning tend to put more fuels on the ground and promotes the growth of easily combustible fuels like grasses and shrubs.


• Secondly, thinning/logging opens up the forest to drying and wind penetration. These are the primary ingredients that promote fire spread.

The author, George Wuerthner, is an ecologist who has published 38 books, including "Wildfire: A Century of Failed Forest Policy." Wuerthner divides his time between Livingston, Montana, and Bend, Oregon.

Here's the full article:

     Wilderness protection reduces wildfires

Here's the study the author referred to:

     Does increased forest protection correspond to higher fire severity in frequent-fire forests of the western United States