Furphy: Logging reduces bushfire risks.

Fact: Logging increases bushfire severity.

Extensive research on forests has shown that logging increases the risk of high severity bushfires. This is true in NSW (Lindenmayer et al. 2022; Wilson et al. 2022), other parts of Australia (Furlaud et al. 2021; Lindenmayer et al. 2022; Taylor et al. 2014) and North America (Levine et al. 2022; Mackey et al. 2023).

In the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires, logged and regenerated forests always burned at higher severity than intact forests (Lindenmayer et al. 2022).

There are several reasons why logged forests burn more severely (Lindenmayer 2024 pp.76-77; Lindenmayer & Zylstra 2024).

First, logged forests are drier than intact forests. Logging opens up the forest canopy, which allows more sunlight to penetrate, drying the forest and increasing flammability. Also, young, regenerating trees use more water than mature forest, resulting in drier soils.

Second, logging creates open areas in forests, which increases wind speeds and aids the spread of fire.

Third, young, regenerating trees are closely spaced, which increases the chance of fire spreading to the forest canopy. They are also thin, like fireplace logs, and burn quickly and intensely.

And fourth, logging leaves large amounts of debris on the forest floor, with the majority of the above-ground biomass left behind as “waste”. This increases the fuel load in the forest.

The elevated fire risks continue for up to 70 years after logging (Wilson et al. 2022).

Further reading

Lindenmayer, D. (2025). ‘Logging does indeed increase fire risks!: David Lindenmayer’, Australian Rural & Regional News, 10 February. Available at: https://arr.news.

Lindenmayer, D. (2024). The forest wars. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, pp.73-85.

Lindenmayer, D. et al. (2021). What are the relationships between native forest logging and bushfires? Bushfire Recovery Project Report No.3. Griffith University and The Australian National University. Available at: https://www.bushfirefacts.org.