Forestry Resource Management - Environmental Sciences - Lecture Slides, Slides of Environmental Science

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Forestry Resource Management Chapter 12 Environmental Science docsity.com Forest Management • Forests cover over 31% of Earth’s land surface – Provide habitat, maintain quality of soil/air/water, and play key roles in biogeochemical cycles – Provide wood: fuel, construction, paper production docsity.com Deforestation in America and Canada • Deforestation propelled the westward expansion and growth of America and Canada – Eastern coastal deciduous forests were the first to be logged for farms and to build cities (i.e. Chicago) – Timber companies moved south to the Ozarks and west to the Rockies docsity.com Loggers moved westward, searching for large trees • Primary forest = old-growth forests untouched by loggers • Nearly entire eastern half of the US was covered in primary forest – Less than 1/10 remained by the 20th century • Second-growth trees = grown to partial maturity after old- growth timber has been harvested – Majority of harvested timber today docsity.com Deforestation is proceeding rapidly worldwide • Uncut tropical forests still remain in many developing countries – Modern technology allows for even faster exploitation – Deforestation is currently rapid in places such as Brazil and Indonesia • Developing countries are desperate for economic development = few logging restrictions – Short-term economic gains go to foreign multinational corporations – Governments often help corporations, at the expense of native people docsity.com Ecosystem-based management • Ecosystem-based management = managing resource harvesting to minimize impacts on ecosystems and ecological processes • Sustainably certified forestry plans protect areas – Restore ecologically important habitats – Consider patterns at the landscape level – Preserve the forest’s functional integrity • It is challenging to implement this type of management – Ecosystems are complex – Our understanding of how they operate is limited docsity.com Adaptive management • Adaptive management = testing different approaches and aiming to improve methods through time – Time-consuming and complicated, but effective • Example: • The 1994 Northwest Forest Plan resolved disputes between loggers and preservationists over the last U.S. old-growth, temperate rainforests across 25 million acres of the U.S. Pacific Northwest – The plan let science guide management – It allowed limited logging while protecting species (e.g. Spotted Owl) and ecosystems docsity.com “Timber famine” fears spurred forest protection • National forest system = a system of forest reserves and public lands created by the Land Revision Act of 1891 – To grow trees, produce timber, protect watersheds, and ensure future timber supplies – Gave then President Benjamin Harrison power to “set aside and reserve...any part of the public lands wholly or partly covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not” • Currently: National Forests occupy 191 million acres or 8% of the U.S. land area (about the size of the Lone Star state) • The U.S. Forest Service was established in 1905 – Manage forests for the greatest good of the greatest number in the long run, including logging docsity.com The National Forest Management Act (1976) • Mandated that plans for renewable resource management had to be drawn up for every national forest • Guidelines included: – Considering both economic and environmental factors – Provision for species diversity – Ensuring research and monitoring – Assessing all impacts before logging to protect resources – Permitting only sustainable harvests – Protection of soils and wetlands docsity.com Sustainable timber is extracted from public and private land • By private companies on both private and public lands – Forest Service employees plan and manage timber sales and build roads – Companies log and sell the timber for profit • Taxpayers subsidize private timber harvesting on public land • Forest Service loses $100 million/year of taxpayer money and increased harvest by selling timber below cost docsity.com Salvage logging • Removal of dead trees following a natural disturbance • Seems logical, but in reality is destructive – Snags (standing dead trees) provide nesting cavities for countless animals – Removing timber from recently burned areas increases erosion and soil damage – Promotes future fires – Increases commercial logging in National Forests – Decreases oversight and public participation docsity.com Harvesting: other methods • Seed-tree cutting = a small number of seed- producing trees are left standing to re-seed the area • Shelter-wood cutting = a small number of trees are left to provide shelter for the seedlings • Selection systems = only select trees are cut – Single tree selection = widely spaced trees are cut – Group tree selection = small patches of trees are cut • All methods disturb habitat – change forest structure and composition – increase erosion, siltation, runoff, flooding, landslides • However, all are preferred to clear-cutting docsity.com Sustainable forestry is gaining ground • Sustainable forestry certification = only products produced sustainably can be certified – consumers look for logos to buy sustainably produced timber – companies such as Home Depot/IKEA sell sustainable wood – encourages better logging practices docsity.com National Wildlife Refuges • Begun in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt • 96 million acres in 550 sites • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service administers refuges – Management ranges from preservation to manipulation – Wildlife havens – Allows hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, photography, education docsity.com Non-federal entities also protect land • Each U.S. state and Canadian province has agencies that manage resources – So do counties and municipalities • Land trusts = local or regional organizations that purchase land to protect it – Nature Conservancy is the world’s largest land trust – Trusts own 1.7 million acres and protect 10.2 million acres – Ex: Jackson Hole, Wyoming is protected by a land trust docsity.com Parks and reserves are increasing internationally • Many nations have established national parks – benefit from ecotourism – protected areas now cover 12% of the world’s land area • Parks do not always receive necessary funding – Paper parks = areas protected on paper but not in reality – World heritage sites = protected areas that fall under national sovereignty but are designated or managed by the United Nations – Biosphere reserves = land with exceptional biodiversity used for sustainable development to benefit local communities (designated by UNESCO) docsity.com Forest fire management policy has always stirred up controversy • For over 100 years, the Forest Service suppressed all fires – But many ecosystems depend on fires – Excess vegetation produces kindling for future fires • In the wild land-urban interface, housing developments that are near forests are vulnerable to forest fires and increase fire risk docsity.com