The reading
Every year, forest fires and severe stormscause a great deal of damage to forests in the northwestern United States. One way of dealing with the aftermath of these disasters is called salvage logging, which is the practice of removing dead trees from affected areas and using the wood for lumber, plywood,and other wood products. There are several reasons why salvage logging is beneficial both to a damaged forest and to the economy.
First, after a devastating fire, forests are choked with dead trees. If the trees are not removed, they will take years to decompose; in the meantime, no new treescan grow in the cramped spaces. Salvage logging, however, removes the remains of dead trees and makes room for fresh growth immediately, which i s likely to help forest areas recover from the disaster. Also, dead trees do more than just take up space. Decaying wood is a highly suitable habitat for insects such as the spruce bark beetle, which in large numbers can damage live, healthy spruce trees. So by removing rotting wood, salvage logging helps minimize the dangers of insect infestation, thus contributing to the health of the forest.
Third and last, salvage logging has economic benefits. Many industries depend upon the forests for their production, and because of this a fire can have a very harmful effect on the economy. Often, however, the trees that have been damaged by natural disasters still can provide much wood that is usable by industries. Furthermore, salvage logging requires more workers than traditional logging operations do, and so it helps create additional jobs for local residents.
The lecture
drive.google.com/open?id=0B1PjU … 2FNZnpWcWs
My essay
The reading and the lecture provide a heated debate surrounding the benefits of salvage logging. While the author of the reading strongly believes that salvage logging has major implications on the environment as well as the economy, the lecture disagrees with that perspective, saying that salvage logging not only inflicts long-term environmental damage but also has benefits that do not live up to the reading’s expectation.
First of all, the reading manifests that it takes a long period of time to for dead trees to decompose after a severe fire. In the meantime, new trees, thus, cannot grow because of the lack of spaces. Therefore, by removing the dead trees, we can create enough spaces for the instantaneous growth of young trees, which significantly mitigates the damage of the disaster the forest suffering from. However, the lecture opposes this argument, stating that the removal of dead trees is not necessarily good for the growth of young trees. In fact, the decomposition of dead trees provides the soil with an abundance of nutrients, which is favorable for the growth of new trees. Therefore, the lecture rebuts the argument of reading.
Second, the reading asserts that damaged trees provide the suitable environment for treacherous insects, such as the spruce bark beetle. The spruce bark beetle, in fact, can inflict widespread damage to the forest in large numbers. Therefore, the removal of dead trees means getting rid of insects, which in turn creates a healthy environment for the forest. The lecture, on the other hand, casts doubt on this point and states that the damage of the spruce bark beetle is not significant. In fact, the spruce bark beetle has lived in the forest for almost 100 years, without any record of significant damage to the forest. Therefore, the spruce bark beetle is an idle threat to the forest. Moreover, dead trees provide accommodation for birds as well as useful insects. Thus, the removal of dead trees can decrease the number of these animals, which causes more damage to the forest than the spruce bark beetle itself. This is another place where the lecture puts the reading under rigorous scrutiny.
Last but not least, the reading indicates that salvage logging is useful in economic terms. In fact, many industries depend heavily on the forests for their production. Therefore, a fire can adversely affect their production. However, dead trees can still provide these industries with useable woods. Moreover, salvage logging can play a pivotal role in creating jobs for local residents. Nevertheless, the lecture challenges this point and says that dead trees can only provide these industries with short-term economic benefits. Moreover, in order to remove dead trees, we must use expensive vehicles such as the helicopters. Moreover, the removal of dead trees requires professional workers, who are not available in the local communities. Therefore, it creates additional jobs for outsiders, not the local residents. The lecture, therefore, refutes the argument of the reading.
TOEFL listening discussions: What will the student probably do with her next paper?