Logging slash and forest protection.

Abstract

What to do with the brush after logging? This question has been debated in Wisconsin throughout the entire history of lumbering. In the popular mind, the occurrence of severe forest conflagrations has invariably been associated with the presence of logging slash on the ground. The occurrence of vast forest fires was noted by explorers and fur traders long before logging began on a commercial scale in the Lake States. The greatt historic fires — like the Peshtigo fire which occurred October 9, 1871 in which 1500 lives were lost and 1,280,000 acres were burned over or the Phillips fire of July, 1894 in which 13 people perished and over 160,000, acres of forest were consumed — owe their origin primarily to exceptional weather conditions such as unprecedented drought, strong winds and low humidity rather than to the accumulation of slashings. The latter was undoubtedly a large contributing factor and made the fires more severe, more widespread, and more difficult to control. The agitation for slash disposal has re-occurred with new vigor after each disastrous fire season.

Citation

Zon, Raphael; Cunningham, Russell N. 1931. Logging slash and forest protection. Research Bulletin 109. Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. 36 p.