integrated task: salvage logging benefits

In the set of material, both the reading and the lecture talk about the advantages of salvage logging, a process of removing dead trees from the forest after a fire disaster. The reading claims that the salvage logging is beneficial to both to a damaged forest and to the economy. However, the lecture refutes the claim by explaining how the salvage logging may cause long-term serious impacts on the environment.

Firstly, the passage asserts that forests are chocked with dead trees after fire; salvage logging removes the dead trees and makes space for new trees to grow immediately. In contrast, the professor says that the salvage logging does not create a necessary condition for new trees to grow. The dead trees decompose and make soil rich by adding nutrients in it. This would be helpful for growth of future trees.

Secondly, the article posits that the decaying tree is favorable habitat of spruce bark beetle, which may damage the healthy trees. On the other hand, the lecture points out that the spruce beetle insects live in Alaska forests for years without making a major damage. The dead trees are also a habitat for birds and other insects, which contribute an important role in our ecosystem. If the dead trees will not be there then this birds will lost their shelters. Hence, the salvage logging would do more damage than the spruce beetle insects.

Finally, the reading says that the salvage logging has economic benefits. In contrast, the professor argues the point by saying that it would create temporary benefits. The salvage logging process requires using helicopters and high tech instruments, which would be very expensive. Additionally, the jobs created by the salvage logging will be recruited by outsiders, experienced and trained persons, not by the local residence.
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