I think you all have a fundamental lack of understanding when it comes to logging. Undergrowth is removed and if possible chipped for use in co-gen plants which provides energy to run the sawmill and many times supplement the energy use of neighboring towns.
Unless the section of forest diseased, only some trees are harvested, leaving most of the big trees behind. This clears the undergrowth which allows the bigger trees more access to nutrients.
While I may give you the fact that Malibu did not suffer from the spotted owl, to think Paradise and neighboring areas did not is simply untrue. Many sawmills near Paradise have been shut down during my lifetime.
And to think that logging is not fundemental in forest stewardship...well again just a fundamental lack of understanding. Wood is a valuable resource, and it will come out of an overgrown forest, either on a bed of a logging truck or through fire.
Was the spotted owl issue related to clear cutting of forests or selective cutting related to managing a producing forest. My late husband inherited 20 acres of southern Illinois forest. We spent 4 hours with a forester who explained how a forest could be managed by clearing out small trees like 5” or less in diameter a certain number of feet from the straightest target tree so it could grow. Also selecting straight large trees and how many board feet might be harvested, but leaving crooked trees to continue to seed the forest, and feed and house wildlife. He identified productive trees to keep like walnut and hickory and even pawpaw. That is very different from clear cutting. Small logging mills can handle that work, but I suspect the clear cut guys are bigger and just as happy to put the small timers out of business. After taking notes while being educated by the forester I went to two sawmills to find out what the different trees identified might be worth if cut. I also determined that one of the owners would probably be much more careful pulling out the downed trees than the other one, by pulling them out by a better route and not destroying so much undergrowth like berry bushes and small trees we might want to keep.