Echo Basin response

(Editor’s note: Forest Service PIO?Scott Owen sent this response after talking with district staff.)
Mr. Murphy is talking about aspen timber sale units on the Dolores Ranger District. They do not look pretty after implementation for a few years.
His description is not off base – “Dozens of huge wood slag piles and logs spread out all over the forest floor.” 
We do come back in and burn those piles. The material left as far as “logs spread out all over” provide a micro climate and protect the resprouting aspen shoots from grazing (both wildlife and domestic) which assists in the reestablishment of the clone.
– Scott Owen, Forest Service