Risk can mean significant cost or catastrophic results and occasionally waste of valuable resources.
It consumes valuable organic material which should be recycled into soil to sustain forest yields. The best way of getting the most benefit from the organic matter is to physically mix it in with the soil. While it can have positive ecological effects applied at specific intensities in a mosaic to accomplish specific needs, it has been widely abused in forestry. The benefits of preserving forest organic material to obtain short and long term soil management goals far outweigh the initially less expensive burning costs. Mechanical treatments are often less expensive -burning does not enhance the physical structure of the soil or allow shaping of a microsite.