Tom Udall: “we are here talking today about salvage logging. And let us first of all be clear that salvage logging is taking place…”

“we are here talking today about salvage logging. And let us first of all be clear that salvage logging is taking place on our public lands. And if you want a lot more salvage logging, this is the bill to be for. The CBO says 40 percent more salvage logging. Now, why is that a concern? Salvage logging has been found to impede forest regeneration. Now, that doesn't take a scientist to figure that out. When you have bulldozers and skidders and you are dragging trees that have been burned and you are dragging them through the forest, you are hurting the ability of that forest to regenerate. Seedlings that are on the ground are being destroyed. So salvage logging hurts the ability of the forest to regrow itself. It damages riparian areas. It damages riparian areas. So we are talking here about streams, where if you cut the forests and take these logs out that you will not then have the ability to then allow these streams to produce clean water. They silt up after this kind of salvage logging that occurs. Salvage logging also introduces and spreads invasive species, it causes erosion, and it degrades water quality. This is what our forests are all about. Our forests, we use them as watersheds. They supply us clean water. What this bill is all about is degrading those watersheds. That is what is going on here today, and they do not want to talk about it. They come and say, oh, no laws, no laws will be waived.…”