The paper, written by graduate student Dan Donato and several colleagues, concerned the effects of logging in the aftermath of the 2002 Biscuit Fire, a massive wildfire which burned nearly a half million acres (2,000 km2) in southwestern Oregon.
Some forestry scientists, and the Bush administration, proposed that salvage logging—removal of dead trees, many still usable as timber, after a fire—was necessary for fire safety and forest regeneration.
[4] Hal Salwasser, the dean of the College of Forestry, eventually survived a vote of confidence, apologized for his part in the controversy (but not for calling environmentalists "goons"),[5][6] and reaffirmed OSU's support for academic freedom.
The letter's primary author, OSU forestry engineering professor John Sessions, claimed that the paper's publication constituted a failure of the peer review process, and that he would appeal the matter to the board of Science.
[10] Evergreen Magazine, a publication that describes itself as "the voice of American forestry and science-based forest policy"[11] subsequently dedicated an entire issue to a discussion of the controversy.