Is aggressive salvage logging in B.C. causing the crash of the moose populations?

The Vancouver Sun is reporting that the salvage logging (Kalamitätsnutzung) of the beetle-killed pine forests in British Columbia is being blamed for moose populations in the interior crashing by up to 70%.

To salvage log the dead pine, harvesters had no limits imposed on the size of the clearcuts.  As a result, extensive habitat of the moose have been eliminated.

Surveys by the B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations over the last couple of winters have discovered serious declines in the moose populations.

The Ministry plans to investigate all possibilities for the decline, and expects to produce a report on the matter in 3-4 months.

Read the article:
B.C. moose ravaged by salvage logging of beetle-killed pine forests – Aggressive drive on pine-beetle killed timber blamed as habitat left exposed and numbers plunge by up to 70 per cent (The Vancouver Sun)