Gallagher obviously knows little about forest ecosystems. If you remove slash and deadfalls, rather than let it decay naturally in place, the forest gradually starves of nutrients and weakens, holding less carbon, letting more water runoff (IOW floods worsen), and less timber that could be sustainably harvested. Before affluent folks with cabins were so numerous out there, and wielding so much political pressure, controlled burns (which are how nature has returned nutrients to the soil in natural cycles) would have been the better management option. USFS is actually trying to move towards controlled burns in some remoter areas.