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Effects of Slash Burning on Some Soils of the Douglas-Fir Region¹

ABSTRACT

The studies summarized in this paper indicate that effects of slash burning vary with different soils and locations in the Douglas-fir region and also within an individual clear-cut and slash-burned area. Although severe burning damages some soil properties, the soil surface affected by severe burning usually represents only a small portion of the total area logged and burned. As low-grade materials are utilized more fully, a reduction can be expected in the volume of heavy fuels left after logging. This will decrease even more the small amount of soil surface damaged by severe burning.

In weighing the effects of slash burning on soil properties, consideration must first be given to the relative amounts of lightly burned, severely burned, and unburned soil surface. This is necessary to avoid the possibility of assigning to an entire area, the effects of only the most severe burning treatment.

It is also emphasized that findings of these studies apply only to intentional slash burns and should not be construed as applying to areas affected by repeated wildfires.

¹ Presented before Div. V-A, Soil Science Society of America, Davis, Calif., Aug. 17, 1955.

² Soil Scientist, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forest Service, U.S.D.A., Portland, Oreg.

Received for publication August 8, 1955.