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OSU dean apologizes for logging study fracas
GREENWIRE, 01/30/06
Oregon State University's College of Forestry dean said last week he regretted the conflict between some of his faculty and a graduate student who published a study contradicting their findings.
Hal Salwasser said he should have told the professors to conduct an open scientific debate instead of trying to dissuade Science from publishing Daniel Donato's article saying that forests recover from wildfires better when they are left alone.
The new study, led by Donato, found that logging after the 2002 Biscuit wildfire destroyed seedlings and produced highly flammable tinder that could be "counterproductive to goals of forest regeneration and fuel reduction."
The Forest Service and nine OSU professors, two of whom authored a report with contradictory conclusions that led the Forest Service to expand its logging operations, asked Science to delay publication because Donato's research "contributes no new science," they said in a letter. They said the study's conclusions do not back up the research done since the fire and that the true test of reforestation efforts will be how well seedlings survive into the future.
"I profoundly regret the negative debate that recent events have generated," Salwasser wrote in a letter to the college. "Few faculty, let alone graduate students, get their work published in this prestigious journal."
He wrote that it was not his intent to stifle Donato's research, and that "any study is one part of a long-term process of accumulating knowledge."
Steve Tesch, head of the department of forest engineering and one of Donato's detractors, said he supported Salwasser.
"We're not comfortable with the amount of negative publicity this has brought the college," he said, "and we want to support Hal in trying to bring us all back together" (Michael Milstein, Portland Oregonian, Jan. 27).
Click here to download a copy of the study.
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