This report was prepared to provide an independent examination of the post-fire management options being considered for the Biscuit Fire (2002) within the Siskiyou National Forest in southwestern Oregon. This report has three main objectives: (1) summarize the ecological setting and impact of the Biscuit Fire, (2) review the scientific literature on post-fire management (including salvage logging) and (3) conduct a GIS-based mapping analysis that examines the ecological and administrative constraints to post-fire management of the Biscuit Fire. The primary intent of this last section was to demonstrate how planning for post-fire salvage should be conducted based on the best available data and important science principles applied to this particular region. The intent of the exercise was not to provide a final action plan per se, but to illustrate in a spatially explicit fashion the ecological sideboards necessary to develop an ecologically responsible salvage plan for the Biscuit.
Ecological Issues Underlying Proposals to Conduct Salvage Logging in Areas Burned by the Biscuit Fire
