TREES OF LIFE:FORESTS IN PERIL
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September 29th, 2016

9/29/2016

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Last Saturday Iris and I attended a gathering of several folks from the Native American culture in Newaygo, Michigan. Several Tribes were represented and individuals were sharing traditional knowledge and art from their heritage. We met and talked with several persons with interesting backgrounds. The museum had many displays of Native artifacts and had some folks constructing a native style hut made of branches and covered in cedar bark. There were artists displaying their work, ethno-botanists explaining traditional use of plants for medicinal purposes and individuals sharing information about their heritage and past traditional ways of life. The first person Iris met was a member of the Cherokee Nation. While they were talking, the woman pointed to the sky at an unbelievable site! Six eagles were circling above and were on occasion preforming their ritual of locking talons together while free falling. This activity is a symbol of togetherness, as they mate for life. This was an amazing  sign for everyone present!
The Eagle represents wisdom through observation to our indigenous people. It best symbolizes immense wisdom the Eagle learns through all it sees. It is the eyes of the all-seeing Great Spirit, God, the entity that created all things. Our Native people believe that when we see Nature as the Eagle does, we are observing the precision as our Creator designed it, for all actions and reactions of Nature are deliberate. Yes, our natural world is very complex and detailed! The more we observe our surroundings the greater the reward will be!

This experience explains the concept of managing our valuable forested lands, which I have been concentrating on in explaining my concerns with current management. Our forests are not just large areas covered with trees! They are a complex mosaic of communities with very different relationships and characteristics within each community. Until we stop and observe these differences, we will continue on our path of exploiting the forests to provide for our wants and desires. We will continue to take what we want at the neglect of creation! We are so focused on the needs of the individual human, we are failing to properly manage our remaining valuable forested lands. Our species along with 70% of all living organisms on our planet can not survive without our forests. Read about the people of Easter Island or the early settlement of the Norse in Greenland, the Mayan and Aztec cultures, and you will learn how deforestation played a key roll in their demise. Advanced science and technology will NOT provide a path to the future, as history has demonstrated that as technology improves the
destruction of our natural world accelerates. Learning to live in BALANCE with our planet is the only way of extending life on Earth! The science of forestry must a new responsibility for the management of our remaining forest lands
Forestry and Foresters must choose the path of detailed observation and develop the wisdom required to manage for health and diversity, rather than continuing to follow the path of materialism. 

       

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9/5/2016

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Today I received a copy of a news article from the Washington Examiner entitled, 'Watchdog: Forest Service mismanaging forest fire risk'. The article suggests the Forest Service lacks site specific data to be able to provide treatments for the clean up of forest stands of dead and down fuels, which intensifies the threat of large destructive wildfires. The report continued by indication that due to the lack of on-the-ground information, the Forest Service is unable to prioritize the locations that need treatment first. The result is that we are continuing to experience catastrophic wildfires and spending available funds, which are available, in an in-appropriate manner.
This article legitimizes the point I have been concerned about with respect to the science of forestry. It involves far more than just the Forest Service and the impact of catastrophic wildfires. The majority of forest land managing public agencies, private companies and corporations are focused on the natural resources we harvest from the forests. They lack adequate information to prioritize treatment of the individual forest communities to maintain health and diversity. Our remaining forested lands demand a far more intensive management strategy, and that strategy must include the recognition of individual communities that make up the forests. I responded to the Examiner article with the following:
"The issue is far bigger than just managing wildfire hazards and involves most forest land managing agencies and corporations. Our inventory processes are completely inadequate to properly manage our remaining forested lands, no matter who is responsible. Back in 1964, I presented a paper at the Mid-West Wildlife Conference, demonstrating a process to identify the individual forest communities, and to collect data required to prioritize treatment needs. We sampled each community to record current conditions and needs. The idea was to revisit each community on a 10 years cycle, to refine and expand our knowledge of on-the-ground conditions. The project involved inventorying  all communities on a 200,000 acre Ranger District. We completed our first round in 2 years with 3 professional scientists. Yes, it can be done! With today's advanced technology, I am sure the process could be done in a much more efficient way however, there is no substitute for on-the-ground observation and examination by a professional scientist to provide sound data. Unfortunately, today's focus remains on what we can take from the forests and not the needs of the individual communities to maintain or improve health and diversity. Healthy and diverse forest communities is by far the best tool we have to prevent catastrophic event in the future. If the science of forestry fails to make significant changes in the management of our remaining valuable forest communities, we will face the same issues that resulted in the collapse and failure of numerous societies from the past. TIME IS ADVANCING QUICKLY, AND WE ARE DOING LITTLE IF ANYTHING!     


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