In this evidence-based op-ed, Wild Heritage Chief Scientist Dr. Dominick DellaSala, along with renowned forest ecologists Drs. David Lindenmayer and Diana Six, presents a critical examination of the ecological impacts of active forest management—including mechanical thinning, commercial logging, and prescribed burning—now increasingly promoted as solutions for resilience, restoration, and wildfire mitigation.
Drawing on extensive peer-reviewed research from North America, Australia, and Europe, the authors document how these interventions frequently degrade forest ecosystems, reduce biodiversity, and compromise carbon storage. Particularly alarming are impacts to high conservation value forests, where natural disturbance regimes are essential for long-term ecosystem adaptation and forest health.
The article urges a precautionary, science-based approach that centers ecological integrity, natural regeneration, and landscape-scale conservation—rather than industrial-scale manipulation—especially in the face of escalating climate pressures.
Read the full article in The Revelator: ‘Active Management’ Harms Forests — And It’s About to Get a Whole Lot Worse