TREES OF LIFE:FORESTS IN PERIL
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December 31st, 2019

12/31/2019

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THE WORLDS’ NUMBER ONE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE- POPULATION EXPANSION!

Tomorrow is a new year and I wanted to provide some factual data that justifies my concerns for worldwide population expansion being our number one environmental issue for the future!
In 1798, Thomas Malthus published, “An Essay on the Principles of Population”. He was one of the first to raise concerns about the issue of population expansion and the potential impact it could have on humanity. In his publication he stated, “The power of population is much greater than the power of Earth to provide for human needs”. It wasn’t until 1968, that Paul Ehrlich again highlighted the issue with his publication of, “The Population Bomb”. Paul pointed out, “we live on a finite planet with finite resources in a system where population is not finite”. Professor William Rees, ecological economist at the University of British Columbia, in an interview pointed out that the exchange value cycle was an inappropriate process for understanding the issue of population demands on our natural resources. He argued, “ecologists were studying non-human species and economists were studying humans with no concern for the natural resources”. His conclusions support my finding that, “Nothing is itself without all the rest”.
There have been a few members of the scientific community that have been concerned about population expansion for a long time however, the public has shown little interest in the issue. I suspect this is true because most people are not aware of the magnitude of the issue or it’s implications. In 1800, the world population was 1 billion and has since increased seven-fold. From 1950 to 2010 the global population nearly tripled, and the United States population doubled. Our current global population is 7.75 billion and expanding by 75 million annually. The U.S. Census Bureau projects we will reach 10 billion people worldwide in just 30 years, and the U.N. has projected a global population of 13 billion people by the end of the century.
In addition to population numbers, we need to understand the problem of population density. The average global population density is 25 people per square km, however there is a wide disparity between the various countries. Singapore has the highest density with 8000 people per square km, and Bangladesh, one of the larger countries, has 1252 people per sq. km. The higher the country’s density, the more dependent they are on materials and resources from other countries.
What can we expect in the future? Generally, we can expect birth-rates to gradually slow and life expectancies to increase. When poor countries expand their wealth, their birth-rates tend to slow, however the fastest growing age class, worldwide, are the 90 plus group. We can expect the world population to continue to expand at about 75 million per year, and the U.N. projects we will experience about 140 worldwide births per year for the next 80 years, which explains why population expansion will continue at close to 75 million per year. The statistics presented clearly establish why the most critical environmental issue we face worldwide is population expansion. The future demand for resources will stress Earth, resulting in issues like deforestation, poor air quality, water shortages, loss of water quality, food shortages, climate change, global warming, drought and a worldwide shortage of natural resources!     
This information is interesting, but what does mean for humanities future? Remember Thomas Malthus conclusion that the power of population is much greater than the power of Earth to provide, and Paul Ehrlich’s conclusion that although population is not finite, we live on a finite planet that has finite resources. There have been several efforts to define Earth’s carrying capacity based on human population numbers. This can be estimated by determining what each one of us demand in energy and materials each year and then incorporating the data to world population data. Understanding this is an estimate, most scientists suggest Earth’s limit to supply needed resources is in the range of 10 billion people. Remember, we expect to reach 10 billion people in just 30 years. A poll in 2014 showed only 59% of Americans felt we will experience natural resource shortages on our planet. Professor Rees projects that each individual living on the North American Continent, today, require 20 acres to produce the energy and materials required to support our current life style, and the U.S. utilizes 20% to 25% of all the natural resources available on Earth. If you combined the required bio-physical resources utilized by China and the United States, it would require 125% of Earth’s total resources.  Professor Rees projects, if the world enjoyed the U.S. life-style, it would require at least 3 additional planets like planet Earth.  He goes on the indicate that people living in most poor countries use less than 1 acre to provide the energy and materials require for their life styles. If you divide the worlds land base by todays world population, there is only 4.2 acres per person, which means citizens of the United States and Canada are using 5 time more than the rest of the world.   
Professor Rees tells us, “Sustainability is a collective problem requiring a collective approach to solve”. Dr. Jered Diamond suggests in his book, “Collapse”, in past societies which have failed the poor are the first to experience the final days, however the wealthy and powerful suffer longer and still experience the same finality. I do not want to be negative, but the facts tell the story and the future may arrive too quickly. The next 30 years will require major change if we hope to prolong life on our planet. There are only two options available; change our life style to conserve resources and intensify management of our remaining natural world by focusing on its needs rather than on what we can take from the natural world. It is much larger than simply reducing fossil fuel utilization or finding a new substitute energy source. This is truly a collective problem requiring a worldwide effort to solve! Much of our remaining natural world lands are forested and therefore require a major commitment for those responsible the management of these valuable lands. This requires significant re-evaluation of current management principles and goals, as a continued application of current goals too maintain a sustained flow of resources from the forest will lead to an accelerated loss of the life sustaining elements provided only by the NATURAL WORLD!

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December 10th, 2019

12/10/2019

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AMERICA’S CURRENT STATE!
 
I have been observing our great country’s progress and changes for over 70 years now, with particular attention to the impact humans have had on the natural world and its surroundings. Most of you are aware that my education and experience was in forest science and that forests are a critical part of our natural surroundings. My career, although influenced by the goals of the U.S. Forest Service, focused on doing my best to understand the complexity of the forest environment and to manage the lands I was responsible for to meet the needs of the American public. National Forest System Lands are held in trust for the citizens of the United States of America. I was always prepared to listen to the public in order to find new and different management strategies to better accomplish their goals and objectives. I have been retired now for 25 years but, unable to ignore the concerns about the natural world which I retired with. The first 15 years of retirement involved frequent visits to the forest I last worked on and engaged in numerous discussions with employees and forest visitors about their future desires for our valuable remaining forested lands. In fact, as a member of the Yellowstone Coordinating Committee, I visited numerous interests throughout the State of Wyoming, to identify their views on the future of the Greater Yellowstone Area and then draft my findings, along with other members findings, into a “Vision for the Future of the Greater Yellowstone Area”. Retirement offered time to observe more closely the nations forest conditions and discussions with the people revealed serious concerns with existing management goals, strategies and management actions.
Even though I had limited experience as a writer, I felt a need to help people understand what was happening to our natural surroundings and why. For many years, I have been convinced the Native American culture possessed a deeper appreciation for the relationships we share with our natural surroundings and the complexity of the natural world. I reached out to find information from the few scholars in science, religion and academia that had published their findings and concerns. There are in fact, a few insightful scholars that have been warning us of unacceptable changes in our environment for the past 40 to 50 years. The more I observed and studied, the more heightened my concerns became, and the more convinced I was that advanced science and technology will not provide for our desired future. I have seen considerable change in our tree covered lands, since I became old enough to start squirrel hunting in my grandparent’s woodlot. My interest continued to expand as my observations, experiences and education grew. Thirty-four years practicing my profession, left me with more questions than answers. I had to learn more!      
I am concerned about the current state of America and my concerns intensify with each passing day. I see a greater division among our people than I have previously observed and an inability or unwillingness of the people to work together for the good of all citizens. Individual greed has overtaken the desire to provide for future generations by protecting our natural environment. We are involved in a Constitutional Crisis with an Administration attempting to achieve autocratic power by destroying our egalitarian democratic principles. Our wealthy investors seem willing to cast aside their allegiance to the American middle class, for higher profits using cheap foreign labor sources. Our expanding world population is demanding more from Mother Earth than she can provide, resulting in an accelerated destruction of the vital resources and relationships only our natural surroundings can provide. I am troubled that we have become so urbanized, greedy and technocratic, that we have alienated ourselves from the vital elements that sustain life on our planet. I don’t understand what has happened that we allow a small group of corrupt people to destroy the free democratic principles we have spent 150 years establishing. It is difficult to understand how we have allowed greed to eliminate regulations designed to try to protect the viability of our home, planet Earth. The United States is withdrawing from a worldwide effort to focus on the changes which are occurring in our natural world and climate. Talking to people, has confirmed our individual concern for the future yet, our actions do not support the concerns! Where is the leadership America needs for the future? Are politicians no longer public servants? Since when have they been given liberty to follow their own greedy desires rather than work to achieve the needs of the people they represent? The Constitution of the United States and the definition of Democratic government certainly has not changed! Our current path is not taking us in the direction which will provide the future we seek! It is up to us, you and me, to insist upon the goals and values that will provide our desired future!                

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December 10th, 2019

12/10/2019

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