FORESTRY AND FOREST ECOLOGY
GLOBAL LEADERS ARE FINALLY RECOGNIZING THE MOST CRITICAL ISSUE HUMANITY HAS EVER ENCOUNTERED, THE CARRYING-CAPACITY OF PLANET EARTH. UNFORTUNATELY, THEIR FOCUS IS PRIMARILY ON CLIMATE CHANGE, WHICH IS THE RESULT OF POPULATION EXPANSION AND DEFORESTATION. UNDERSTANDING THE COMPLEXITY OF THE ISSUE WILL BE NECESSARY, IF WE HOPE TO FIND THE SOLUTIONS THAT WILL TRULY PROVIDE FUTURE LIFE ON EARTH. I HAVE INVESTED MUCH OF MY RETIREMENT YEARS ATTEMPTING TO INFORM PEOPLE OF THE MAGNITUDE OF THE ISSUE AND THE LIMITED TIME LEFT TO CORRECT OUR PAST GREEDY MISTAKES. THERE ARE THOSE THAT DISAGREE THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE HUMAN CAUSED, BECAUSE THE REQUIRED CHANGES WILL RESULT IN MAJOR CHANGES IN LIFE STYLES AND THE ECONOMY. SOME PREFER TO IGNORE THE PROBLEMS BASED ON MISINFORMATION, LACK OF UNDERSTANDING AND CHANGES HAVE NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED, THEREBY MAKING THE UNKNOWN A SCARY SITUATION. CHANGE MEANS NEW AND UNKNOWN EXPERIENCES THAT WILL UPSET CURRENT NORMS. THE CRITICAL ISSUE THAT WE FACE IS THE DESTINY OF OUR OWN SPECIES! CERTAINLY, THIS SHOULD ENERGIZE EACH ONE OF US TO ACTION!
MY MISSION IS TO HELP THE PUBLIC UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR CHANGE, BY PRESENTING THE FACTS AND SUGGESTING SOLUTIONS TO PROLONG LIFE ON EARTH. IT HAS BEEN DIFFICULT TO REACH PEOPLE, SO SUCCESS HAS BEEN LIMITED. BEING A NATURAL RESOURCE SCIENTIST, AND NOT BEING A HIGH-PROFILE PERSON, HAS INCREASED THE PROBLEM OF CONVINCING THE PUBLIC OF HOW SERIOUS THE ISSUES ARE. I HAVE DONE CONSIDERABLE RESEARCH TO LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT CURRENT CONDITIONS OF OUR NATURAL WORLD. THE MORE I LEARNED, THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN FOREST ECOSYSTEMS AND HUMAN COMMUNITIES BECAME APPARENT. ECOSYSTEMS ARE TRULY COMMUNITIES, WITH A VARIETY OF LIFE SYSTEMS SUPPORTING EACH OTHER AND UNIQUE FROM SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES. THIS IS TRUE OF FOREST COMMUNITIES AND HUMAN COMMUNITIES. WHEN THE BALANCE OF THE ECOSYSTEM IS UPSET, THE COMMUNITY CAN HAVE DIFFICULTY SURVIVING.
IGNORING AND ATTEMPTING TO HID THE TRUTH, HAS INTENSIFIED THE ISSUES AND USED UP VALUABLE TIME NEEDED TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEMS. IT IS ALSO TRUE, THAT THE ISSUES ARE EXTREMELY COMPLEX DEMANDING INTENSE STUDY AND COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW ECOSYSTEMS FUNCTION. FOCUSING ON CO2 LEVELS IN OUR ATMOSPHERE, CAUSED BY FOSSIL FUEL CONSUMPTION, DOES NOT PROVIDE THE RANGE OF UNDERSTANDING REQUIRED TO ADEQUATELY REVERSE OUR CLIMATE CHANGE PROBLEMS. THIS IS THE REASON I HAVE BEEN STRESSING THE NECESSITY OF EDUCATING OUR YOUTH IN ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. WE NEED TO START AS EARLY AS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LEVELS. THIS IS ALSO, WHY I STRONGLY SUPPORT THE NEED FOR AN ECOLOGICAL FOUNDATION FOR MOST ADVANCED COLLEGE DEGREES. OUR DESTINY DEPENDS UPON OUR INDEPTH KNOWLEDGE OF THE NATURAL WORLD, UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIPS SUPPORTING LIFE SYSTEMS AND OUR WILLINGNESS TO BECOME ACTIVISTS IN PROLONGING LIFE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. THIS REQUIRES UNDERSTANDING HOW LIFE SYSTEMS FUNCTION AND DEPEND UPON A DIVERSITY OF SPECIES.
COMPARING FORESTRY TO FOREST ECOLOGY PROVIDES AN EXAMPLE WHICH DEMONSTRATES THE COMPLEXITY OF THE ISSUES WE ARE FACING, AND THE KIND OF KNOWLEDGE THAT WILL BE REQUIRED IF WE CARE ABOUT HUMANITY’S FUTURE. IT ILLUSTRATES THE NECESSITY OF APPLYING ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES TO FIND LOGICAL AND REALISTIC SOLUTIONS TO THIS HUMANITARIAN ISSUE.
THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FORESTRY WORLDVIEW AND AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE. THIS DIFFERENCE IS ACTUALLY APPLICABLE TO ALL EARTH SCIENCES. ASSUMING A FOREST SCIENTIST UNDERSTAND FUNCTIONING ECOSYSTEMS IS LIKE ASSUMING AN AUTO PARTS PATTERN MAKER HAS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE FUNCTIONING OF AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE, JUST BECAUSE THEY MAKE PATTERNS FOR THE INDIVIDUAL PARTS.
TO ASSUME A FORESTER IS KNOWLEDGEABLE OF THE DETAIL OF ECOSYSTEMS IS INACCURATE, SINCE A DEGREE IN FORESTRY FOCUSES ON HOW TO PRODUCE WOOD FIBER FOR THE WOOD PRODUCTS INDUSTRY. THE FORESTER’S MANAGEMENT FOCUS IS ON WHAT THE FORESTS CAN PROVIDE IN USEFUL PRODUCTS RATHER THAN THE HEALTH AND BIO-DIVERSITY OF THE FOREST ECOSYSTEM. MOST FORESTRY CURRICULUM'S INCLUDE:
DENDROLOGY (TREE IDENTIFICATION)
FOREST MEASUREMENTS (SURVEYING, TREE VOLUME MEASUREMENTS AND TREE AND LUMBER GRADING)
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY
FOREST HEALTH (INSECT AND DISEASE PROBLEMS)
HYDROLOGY
SOIL SCIENCE
SILVICULTURE (TIMBER HARVESTING SYSTEMS)
WILDLIFE AND RANGE MANAGEMENT.
MANY FORESTRY SCHOOLS NOW REQUIRE AN INTRODUCTORY COURSE OR TWO, IN FOREST ECOLOGY.
FORESTERS TEND TO VIEW ECOLOGICAL DISTURBANCES FROM DISEASE, WILDFIRE, INSECTS AND DROUGHT, AS SIGNS OF UNHEALTHY FORESTS, AND WORK TO SANITIZE THE FORESTS BY REMOVING DEAD AND DYING TREES AND REDUCING FUELS THROUGH KILLING OR THINNING UNWANTED VEGETATION. THINNING PROJECTS ARE ALSO SUPPOSED TO INCREASE THE GROWTH RATE OF THE REMAINING TREES AND REDUCED FIRE RISK.
IN COMPARISON, AN ECOLOGIST RECOGNIZES THE UNIQUENESS OF THE INDIVIDUAL ECOSYSTEMS OR FOREST COMMUNITIES. THE UNIQUENESS IS PRIMARILY DUE TO THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SITE ON WHICH THE VEGETATION IS GROWING. ECOLOGISTS ARE TRAINED TO UNDERSTAND THESE UNIQUE COMMUNITIES PROVIDE THE BIO-DIVERSITY WHICH ALLOWS THE ECOSYSTEM TO FUNCTION AND SUPPORT LIFE. RECOGNIZING THE INDIVIDUAL COMMUNITIES CONFIRMS THAT THE FORESTS ARE A MOSAIC OF THESE DIVERSE ECOSYSTEMS. THE DIVERSITY OF THESE INDIVIDUAL COMMUNITIES PROVIDES SOME DEGREE OF FOREST PROTECTION FROM LARGE CATASTROPHIC EVENTS.
ECOLOGISTS ARE AWARE OF THE COMPLEX LIFE SYSTEMS BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THE GROUND. THIS IS WHERE MILLIONS OF MILES OF MYCORRHIZAL NETWORKS ARE ATTACHED TO THE TREE ROOTS, AND AID THE TREE IN ABSORBING MOISTURE AND NUTRIENTS FROM THE SOIL, AS WELL AS PROVIDING THE COMMUNICATION NETWORKS THAT CONNECT THE TREE TO NEIGHBOR TREES. THIS ALLOWS THE TREES TO SHARE NITROGEN, MOISTURE AND OTHER NUTRIENTS WITH EACH OTHER. ECOLOGISTS ARE KNOWLEDGEABLE OF THE MICROSCOPIC ORGANISMS THAT DIGEST THE ORGANIC MATERIAL CONVERTING IT TO NUTRIENTS TO FEED THE VARIOUS TREES AND SHRUBS. THEY REALIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTAINING INDIGENOUS SPECIES THAT MAKE UP THE ECOSYSTEM, AND THE ADVERSE EFFECTS OF REMOVING SPECIES FROM THE SYSTEM. UPSETTING THE BALANCE WITHIN A COMMUNITY CAN RESULT IN SERIOUS HARM AND EVEN DEATH TO SOME INDIGENOUS SPECIES. WHERE FORESTERS BELIEVE THEY ARE IMPROVING FOREST CONDITIONS THROUGH MANIPULATION, ECOLOGISTS SEE MANIPULATION AS DEGRADING THE ECOSYSTEM.
PLANET EARTH’S LAND BASE WAS ONCE SIXTY TO SEVENTY PERCENT COVERED WITH FORESTS. FORESTED LANDS ARE AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF THE NATURAL WORLD. WE DEFINE THE NATURAL WORLD AS THREE MAJOR COMPONENTS; FOREST COVERED LANDS, OCEANS AND SEAS AND THE ATMOSPHERE. TODAY, ONLY TWENTY-SIX PERCENT OF OUR LAND BASE REMAINS FOREST COVERED. OUR ATMOSPHERE CONTAINS 400 PPM OF CARBON DIOXIDE, THE HIGHEST LEVEL IN THE PAST EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND YEARS. THE OCEAN LEVELS HAVE RAISED ALMOST NINE INCHES SINCE 1880 DUE TO INCREASED WATER TEMPERATURES AND WORLDWIDE, WE CONTINUE DISPOSING ONE DUMP TRUCK OF WASTE, INCLUDING TOXIC WASTE, INTO THE OCEANS EVERY MINUTE.
THE FACTS ARE UNDISPUTABLE, AND CLEARLY DISCLOSE THAT HUMAN BEINGS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE ADVERSE IMPACTS DESTROYING OUR NATURAL WORLD. IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF THE COMPLEXITY OF LIFE FUNCTIONS IS RESULTING IN CONTINUED MANAGEMENT DECISIONS THAT ARE DESTROYING THE VERY ELEMENTS REQUIRED TO SUSTAIN LIFE.
IF OUR REMAINING FORESTED LANDS CONTINUE TO BE NOTHING BUT DOMESTICATED TREE FARMS AND THE WORLD POPULATION CONTINUES TO EXPAND, THERE IS LITTLE HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. OUR NARROW FOCUS ON GREEN ENERGY IS A POSITIVE STEP, BUT IT DISPLAYS THE OUR LIMITED KNOWLEDGE ABOUT ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES AND COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THE THREE COMPONENTS OF OUR NATURAL WORLD. A THREE LEGGED STOOL CANNOT STAND WITH JUST ONE LEG! WE MUST RE-FOCUS OUR EFFORTS ON THE ENTIRE NATURAL WORLD IF WE HOPE TO PROLONG LIFE!
MANAGING OUR VALUABLE FORESTED LANDS WITH THE INDUSTRIAL FORESTRY PARADIGM IS NO LONGER AN ACCEPTABLE STRATEGY. IT MUST BE REPLACED WITH A FOREST ECOLOGICAL PARADIGM, WHICH RECOGNIZES THE COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE INDIGENOUS SPECIES WITHIN THE ECOSYSTEMS. TODAY, THERE ARE FAR TOO MANY ECOSYSTEMS THAT ARE DYING DUE TO HUMAN DISTURBANCE, ON LAND, SEAS AND IN OUR ATMOSPHERE. ANYTHING LESS THAN CARING FOR THE ENTIRE NATURAL WORLD IS INSUFFICIENT!
THE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FORESTRY AND FOREST ECOLOGY IS SIMPLY AN EXAMPLE WHICH IS APPLICABLE TO ALL EARTH SCIENCE PROFESSIONS. IT DEMONSTRATES THE IMPORTANCE OF THE “THINK SLOW” PROCESS, AND THE NECESSITY OF UNDERSTANDING THE ENTIRE COMPLEX ECOSYSTEM, BEFORE IMPLEMENTING MANAGEMENT ACTIONS. A DETAILED UNDERSTANDING OF HOW LIFE FUNCTIONS IS MANDATORY FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR SPECIES!
THIS IS THE RATIONALE THAT HAS CONVINCED ME OF THE IMPORTANCE OF INJECTING ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES INTO THE EDUCATION OF OUR STUDENTS. NOT ONLY AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL, BUT STARTING AT THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LEVEL!
GLOBAL LEADERS ARE FINALLY RECOGNIZING THE MOST CRITICAL ISSUE HUMANITY HAS EVER ENCOUNTERED, THE CARRYING-CAPACITY OF PLANET EARTH. UNFORTUNATELY, THEIR FOCUS IS PRIMARILY ON CLIMATE CHANGE, WHICH IS THE RESULT OF POPULATION EXPANSION AND DEFORESTATION. UNDERSTANDING THE COMPLEXITY OF THE ISSUE WILL BE NECESSARY, IF WE HOPE TO FIND THE SOLUTIONS THAT WILL TRULY PROVIDE FUTURE LIFE ON EARTH. I HAVE INVESTED MUCH OF MY RETIREMENT YEARS ATTEMPTING TO INFORM PEOPLE OF THE MAGNITUDE OF THE ISSUE AND THE LIMITED TIME LEFT TO CORRECT OUR PAST GREEDY MISTAKES. THERE ARE THOSE THAT DISAGREE THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE HUMAN CAUSED, BECAUSE THE REQUIRED CHANGES WILL RESULT IN MAJOR CHANGES IN LIFE STYLES AND THE ECONOMY. SOME PREFER TO IGNORE THE PROBLEMS BASED ON MISINFORMATION, LACK OF UNDERSTANDING AND CHANGES HAVE NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED, THEREBY MAKING THE UNKNOWN A SCARY SITUATION. CHANGE MEANS NEW AND UNKNOWN EXPERIENCES THAT WILL UPSET CURRENT NORMS. THE CRITICAL ISSUE THAT WE FACE IS THE DESTINY OF OUR OWN SPECIES! CERTAINLY, THIS SHOULD ENERGIZE EACH ONE OF US TO ACTION!
MY MISSION IS TO HELP THE PUBLIC UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR CHANGE, BY PRESENTING THE FACTS AND SUGGESTING SOLUTIONS TO PROLONG LIFE ON EARTH. IT HAS BEEN DIFFICULT TO REACH PEOPLE, SO SUCCESS HAS BEEN LIMITED. BEING A NATURAL RESOURCE SCIENTIST, AND NOT BEING A HIGH-PROFILE PERSON, HAS INCREASED THE PROBLEM OF CONVINCING THE PUBLIC OF HOW SERIOUS THE ISSUES ARE. I HAVE DONE CONSIDERABLE RESEARCH TO LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT CURRENT CONDITIONS OF OUR NATURAL WORLD. THE MORE I LEARNED, THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN FOREST ECOSYSTEMS AND HUMAN COMMUNITIES BECAME APPARENT. ECOSYSTEMS ARE TRULY COMMUNITIES, WITH A VARIETY OF LIFE SYSTEMS SUPPORTING EACH OTHER AND UNIQUE FROM SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES. THIS IS TRUE OF FOREST COMMUNITIES AND HUMAN COMMUNITIES. WHEN THE BALANCE OF THE ECOSYSTEM IS UPSET, THE COMMUNITY CAN HAVE DIFFICULTY SURVIVING.
IGNORING AND ATTEMPTING TO HID THE TRUTH, HAS INTENSIFIED THE ISSUES AND USED UP VALUABLE TIME NEEDED TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEMS. IT IS ALSO TRUE, THAT THE ISSUES ARE EXTREMELY COMPLEX DEMANDING INTENSE STUDY AND COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW ECOSYSTEMS FUNCTION. FOCUSING ON CO2 LEVELS IN OUR ATMOSPHERE, CAUSED BY FOSSIL FUEL CONSUMPTION, DOES NOT PROVIDE THE RANGE OF UNDERSTANDING REQUIRED TO ADEQUATELY REVERSE OUR CLIMATE CHANGE PROBLEMS. THIS IS THE REASON I HAVE BEEN STRESSING THE NECESSITY OF EDUCATING OUR YOUTH IN ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. WE NEED TO START AS EARLY AS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LEVELS. THIS IS ALSO, WHY I STRONGLY SUPPORT THE NEED FOR AN ECOLOGICAL FOUNDATION FOR MOST ADVANCED COLLEGE DEGREES. OUR DESTINY DEPENDS UPON OUR INDEPTH KNOWLEDGE OF THE NATURAL WORLD, UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIPS SUPPORTING LIFE SYSTEMS AND OUR WILLINGNESS TO BECOME ACTIVISTS IN PROLONGING LIFE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. THIS REQUIRES UNDERSTANDING HOW LIFE SYSTEMS FUNCTION AND DEPEND UPON A DIVERSITY OF SPECIES.
COMPARING FORESTRY TO FOREST ECOLOGY PROVIDES AN EXAMPLE WHICH DEMONSTRATES THE COMPLEXITY OF THE ISSUES WE ARE FACING, AND THE KIND OF KNOWLEDGE THAT WILL BE REQUIRED IF WE CARE ABOUT HUMANITY’S FUTURE. IT ILLUSTRATES THE NECESSITY OF APPLYING ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES TO FIND LOGICAL AND REALISTIC SOLUTIONS TO THIS HUMANITARIAN ISSUE.
THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FORESTRY WORLDVIEW AND AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE. THIS DIFFERENCE IS ACTUALLY APPLICABLE TO ALL EARTH SCIENCES. ASSUMING A FOREST SCIENTIST UNDERSTAND FUNCTIONING ECOSYSTEMS IS LIKE ASSUMING AN AUTO PARTS PATTERN MAKER HAS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE FUNCTIONING OF AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE, JUST BECAUSE THEY MAKE PATTERNS FOR THE INDIVIDUAL PARTS.
TO ASSUME A FORESTER IS KNOWLEDGEABLE OF THE DETAIL OF ECOSYSTEMS IS INACCURATE, SINCE A DEGREE IN FORESTRY FOCUSES ON HOW TO PRODUCE WOOD FIBER FOR THE WOOD PRODUCTS INDUSTRY. THE FORESTER’S MANAGEMENT FOCUS IS ON WHAT THE FORESTS CAN PROVIDE IN USEFUL PRODUCTS RATHER THAN THE HEALTH AND BIO-DIVERSITY OF THE FOREST ECOSYSTEM. MOST FORESTRY CURRICULUM'S INCLUDE:
DENDROLOGY (TREE IDENTIFICATION)
FOREST MEASUREMENTS (SURVEYING, TREE VOLUME MEASUREMENTS AND TREE AND LUMBER GRADING)
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY
FOREST HEALTH (INSECT AND DISEASE PROBLEMS)
HYDROLOGY
SOIL SCIENCE
SILVICULTURE (TIMBER HARVESTING SYSTEMS)
WILDLIFE AND RANGE MANAGEMENT.
MANY FORESTRY SCHOOLS NOW REQUIRE AN INTRODUCTORY COURSE OR TWO, IN FOREST ECOLOGY.
FORESTERS TEND TO VIEW ECOLOGICAL DISTURBANCES FROM DISEASE, WILDFIRE, INSECTS AND DROUGHT, AS SIGNS OF UNHEALTHY FORESTS, AND WORK TO SANITIZE THE FORESTS BY REMOVING DEAD AND DYING TREES AND REDUCING FUELS THROUGH KILLING OR THINNING UNWANTED VEGETATION. THINNING PROJECTS ARE ALSO SUPPOSED TO INCREASE THE GROWTH RATE OF THE REMAINING TREES AND REDUCED FIRE RISK.
IN COMPARISON, AN ECOLOGIST RECOGNIZES THE UNIQUENESS OF THE INDIVIDUAL ECOSYSTEMS OR FOREST COMMUNITIES. THE UNIQUENESS IS PRIMARILY DUE TO THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SITE ON WHICH THE VEGETATION IS GROWING. ECOLOGISTS ARE TRAINED TO UNDERSTAND THESE UNIQUE COMMUNITIES PROVIDE THE BIO-DIVERSITY WHICH ALLOWS THE ECOSYSTEM TO FUNCTION AND SUPPORT LIFE. RECOGNIZING THE INDIVIDUAL COMMUNITIES CONFIRMS THAT THE FORESTS ARE A MOSAIC OF THESE DIVERSE ECOSYSTEMS. THE DIVERSITY OF THESE INDIVIDUAL COMMUNITIES PROVIDES SOME DEGREE OF FOREST PROTECTION FROM LARGE CATASTROPHIC EVENTS.
ECOLOGISTS ARE AWARE OF THE COMPLEX LIFE SYSTEMS BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THE GROUND. THIS IS WHERE MILLIONS OF MILES OF MYCORRHIZAL NETWORKS ARE ATTACHED TO THE TREE ROOTS, AND AID THE TREE IN ABSORBING MOISTURE AND NUTRIENTS FROM THE SOIL, AS WELL AS PROVIDING THE COMMUNICATION NETWORKS THAT CONNECT THE TREE TO NEIGHBOR TREES. THIS ALLOWS THE TREES TO SHARE NITROGEN, MOISTURE AND OTHER NUTRIENTS WITH EACH OTHER. ECOLOGISTS ARE KNOWLEDGEABLE OF THE MICROSCOPIC ORGANISMS THAT DIGEST THE ORGANIC MATERIAL CONVERTING IT TO NUTRIENTS TO FEED THE VARIOUS TREES AND SHRUBS. THEY REALIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTAINING INDIGENOUS SPECIES THAT MAKE UP THE ECOSYSTEM, AND THE ADVERSE EFFECTS OF REMOVING SPECIES FROM THE SYSTEM. UPSETTING THE BALANCE WITHIN A COMMUNITY CAN RESULT IN SERIOUS HARM AND EVEN DEATH TO SOME INDIGENOUS SPECIES. WHERE FORESTERS BELIEVE THEY ARE IMPROVING FOREST CONDITIONS THROUGH MANIPULATION, ECOLOGISTS SEE MANIPULATION AS DEGRADING THE ECOSYSTEM.
PLANET EARTH’S LAND BASE WAS ONCE SIXTY TO SEVENTY PERCENT COVERED WITH FORESTS. FORESTED LANDS ARE AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF THE NATURAL WORLD. WE DEFINE THE NATURAL WORLD AS THREE MAJOR COMPONENTS; FOREST COVERED LANDS, OCEANS AND SEAS AND THE ATMOSPHERE. TODAY, ONLY TWENTY-SIX PERCENT OF OUR LAND BASE REMAINS FOREST COVERED. OUR ATMOSPHERE CONTAINS 400 PPM OF CARBON DIOXIDE, THE HIGHEST LEVEL IN THE PAST EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND YEARS. THE OCEAN LEVELS HAVE RAISED ALMOST NINE INCHES SINCE 1880 DUE TO INCREASED WATER TEMPERATURES AND WORLDWIDE, WE CONTINUE DISPOSING ONE DUMP TRUCK OF WASTE, INCLUDING TOXIC WASTE, INTO THE OCEANS EVERY MINUTE.
THE FACTS ARE UNDISPUTABLE, AND CLEARLY DISCLOSE THAT HUMAN BEINGS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE ADVERSE IMPACTS DESTROYING OUR NATURAL WORLD. IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF THE COMPLEXITY OF LIFE FUNCTIONS IS RESULTING IN CONTINUED MANAGEMENT DECISIONS THAT ARE DESTROYING THE VERY ELEMENTS REQUIRED TO SUSTAIN LIFE.
IF OUR REMAINING FORESTED LANDS CONTINUE TO BE NOTHING BUT DOMESTICATED TREE FARMS AND THE WORLD POPULATION CONTINUES TO EXPAND, THERE IS LITTLE HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. OUR NARROW FOCUS ON GREEN ENERGY IS A POSITIVE STEP, BUT IT DISPLAYS THE OUR LIMITED KNOWLEDGE ABOUT ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES AND COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THE THREE COMPONENTS OF OUR NATURAL WORLD. A THREE LEGGED STOOL CANNOT STAND WITH JUST ONE LEG! WE MUST RE-FOCUS OUR EFFORTS ON THE ENTIRE NATURAL WORLD IF WE HOPE TO PROLONG LIFE!
MANAGING OUR VALUABLE FORESTED LANDS WITH THE INDUSTRIAL FORESTRY PARADIGM IS NO LONGER AN ACCEPTABLE STRATEGY. IT MUST BE REPLACED WITH A FOREST ECOLOGICAL PARADIGM, WHICH RECOGNIZES THE COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE INDIGENOUS SPECIES WITHIN THE ECOSYSTEMS. TODAY, THERE ARE FAR TOO MANY ECOSYSTEMS THAT ARE DYING DUE TO HUMAN DISTURBANCE, ON LAND, SEAS AND IN OUR ATMOSPHERE. ANYTHING LESS THAN CARING FOR THE ENTIRE NATURAL WORLD IS INSUFFICIENT!
THE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FORESTRY AND FOREST ECOLOGY IS SIMPLY AN EXAMPLE WHICH IS APPLICABLE TO ALL EARTH SCIENCE PROFESSIONS. IT DEMONSTRATES THE IMPORTANCE OF THE “THINK SLOW” PROCESS, AND THE NECESSITY OF UNDERSTANDING THE ENTIRE COMPLEX ECOSYSTEM, BEFORE IMPLEMENTING MANAGEMENT ACTIONS. A DETAILED UNDERSTANDING OF HOW LIFE FUNCTIONS IS MANDATORY FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR SPECIES!
THIS IS THE RATIONALE THAT HAS CONVINCED ME OF THE IMPORTANCE OF INJECTING ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES INTO THE EDUCATION OF OUR STUDENTS. NOT ONLY AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL, BUT STARTING AT THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LEVEL!
