Thinning To Prevent Forest Fires Sparks Debate

Fueled by taxpayer dollars, limited forest-thinning is underway to cut trees around towns in the West that caused last year's wildfires. Environmentalists are concerned.

1 minute read

May 12, 2001, 11:00 AM PDT

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech


" Environmentalists agree with federal foresters that some thinning is necessary around vulnerable towns, though they say they worry that too little attention has been paid to the potential impact on endangered and threatened species, as well as forest habitats. They also fear that the projects, while intended to focus on the small, fire-prone trees of little commercial value, might open the door to commercial logging of the larger, more fire-resistant trees."

Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan

Saturday, May 12, 2001 in The New York Times

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