Scientific debates are complicated, and it can be difficult to sort through emotional environmental rhetoric to understand forestry issues. Forest Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden worked closely with the science community to create the Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act, and he wrote the Act to encourage even more involvement and research on forest recovery. This page offers a sample of research Chairman Walden reviewed when writing his bill.

Texas National Forest, after a severe blowdown

Seeding and reforesting immediately is more effective in reducing the impacts of competing shrubs and other species. Also as time passes, costs per acre tend to increase.
Sessions, J., P. Bettinger, R. Buckman, M. Newton, J. Hamann. 2004. Hastening the return of complex forests following fire. Journal of Forestry 102(3): 38-45.

Without planting and subsequent shrub control following the Biscuit fire it could take more than 100 years for conifer forests , habitat of the northern spotted owl, to establish. With active recovery and reforestation it will take around 50 years to establish large conifer trees.
Sessions, J., P. Bettinger, R. Buckman, M. Newton, J. Hamann. 2004. Hastening the return of complex forests following fire. Journal of Forestry 102(3): 38-45.

Texas National Forest, following rapid reforestation

Removing dead and dying trees can have positive effects including: reducing wildfires, and insect and disease risk, and in some cases produces less sediment than sites that are left alone after fires.
Ice, G., D. Neary, and P. Adams.  2004.  Effects of wildfire on soils and watershed processes.  Journal of Forestry 102(6): 16-20.

Salvage can improve watershed conditions by increasing ground cover, by removing a source of large, high-energy water droplets and by breaking up hydrophobic soil layers, improving infiltration.
Poff, R.J.  1989.  Compatibility of timber salvage operations with watershed values.  137-140 in Proceedings of the Symposium on Fire and Watershed Management.  USDA Forest Service, General Technical Report PSW-109.  Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Berkeley, CA.

"In some cases, logging residue can decrease erosion and retain sediment in postfire logged sites.."
James D. McIver and Lynn Starr, Western Journal of Applied Forestry, 16(4) 2001.

Postfire logging should start while the ashes are still smoldering and should be completed before the next growing season starts for logging to produce optimal ecological results such as woody debris deposits to stabilize soils and ash as well as disrupting a contiguous ash layer that can reduce soil water infiltration rates by over 50%
Martin and Moody, 2001. Comparison of soil infiltration rates in burned and unburned mountainous watersheds, Hydrological Processes (15)2893-2903.

Studying seedling establishment after wildfires and salvage treatments, researchers in northwestern California found that salvaged sites had more hardwood cover and unsalvaged sites had more shrub cover, both competing with the establishment of Douglas-fir. This indicates that other treatments beyond removing dead trees can help speed establishment of desired species such as Douglas fir but no treatment does not necessarily mean immediate re-establishment of desired tree species. Stuart, John D., Michael C. Grifantini, Lawrence Fox III, 1993.
Early Successional Pathways following Wildfire and Subsequent Silvicultral Treatments in Douglas-Fir/Hardwood Forests, NW California. Forest Science, Vol. 39, No. 3 pp 561-572.

Treatments including hand felling, logging over snow or on dry ground, low slopes, heavy soils, in the absence of extreme weather events can cause soil disturbance but produce minimal sedimentation, as shown in a study of salvage logging after the 1996 Summit Fire in northeastern Oregon. This author also suggests that an alternative to simply more research might be an adaptive management approach where managers monitor post-fire logging effects and share results. 
McIver, James D. 2004. Sediment Transport and Soil Disturbance After Post-Fire Logging. Hydrological Science and Technology, Vol 20, No 1-4, pp 101-111.

"(t)here is little evidence that carefully planned and conducted salvage harvest cannot be conducted so as to avoid significant impacts."
George Ice, Daniel Neary, and Paul Adams, Journal of Forestry, September 2004

"A more thorough understanding of post-fire logging effects will only come from additional work aimed at evaluating effects over a wider range of conditions."
James D. McIver, Hydrological Science and Technology, Volume 20, No. 1-4, 2004