RELIGIOUS BELIEFS GREW OUT OF MANKIND’S DESIRE TO EXPLAIN AND UNDERSTAND THE MAGIC OF LIFE ON PLANET EARTH, THE STORY OF CREATION. FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IN THE GREAT CREATOR HAS SATISFIED THAT QUEST FOR AN UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE ON THIS MAJESTIC PLANET. IT IS AMAZING HOW SIMILAR THE VARIOUS WORLD RELIGIONS VIEW THE STORY OF CREATION, A GIFT FROM THE GREAT CREATOR. IF ONE TAKES THE TIME TO STUDY INTO THE DEPTHS OF CREATION, WE BEGIN TO SEE THE ORDERLINESS, MAGNITUDE AND CONNECTIONS THAT EXIST WITHIN THE NATURAL WORLD. TO THIS DAY, WE HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF HOW THE SEVEN UNIVERSES’ AND THE BILLIONS OF PLANETS WITHIN EACH UNIVERSE, WERE CREATED. IN MY ESTIMATION, THE MAGICAL RELATIONSHIPS THAT SUSTAIN LIFE ON EARTH SUPPORTS THE CONCLUSION OF INTELLIGENT DESIGN.
I HAVE SPENT CONSIDERABLE TIME ANALYZING THE ABOVE THOUGHTS AS THEY RELATE TO MY 34 YEARS OF EXPERIENCES AND OBSERVATIONS IN THE SCIENCE OF FORESTRY. IT HAS FORCED ME TO RE-EVALUATE THE SCIENCE OF FORESTRY AND THE GOALS THAT HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF OUR REMAINING FOREST COVERED LANDS, PARTICULARLY OUR PUBLIC FORESTED LANDS. FOREST LAND MANAGEMENT WAS INITIATED IN THE 1880’S IN THE UNITED STATES, FOLLOWING A LONG PERIOD OF LAND CLEARING FOR AGRICULTURAL USE AND EXCESSIVE TREE HARVESTING TO BUILD A NEW NATION. SEVERAL INDIVIDUALS OBSERVED THE DEVASTATING REMOVAL OF THE TREES, AND DEVELOPED CONCERNS FOR WHAT WAS HAPPENING. PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT, KNOWN FOR HIS HUNTING EXPEDITIONS, WAS CONCERNED AND SET ASIDE THE FIRST PUBLIC FOREST LANDS, KNOWN AS THE YELLOWSTONE FOREST RESERVE. ANOTHER CONCERNED CITIZEN WAS THE FATHER OF GIFFORD PINCHOT, WHO HAD MADE A LARGE FORTUNE IN HARVESTING WOOD PRODUCTS FROM THE EASTERN FORESTS. CONCERNED FOR THE DEVASTATING IMPACT OF HIS ACTIVITIES; HE CONVINCED HIS SON TO STUDY FORESTRY IN FRANCE. GIFFORD WAS A FRIEND OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT AND AFTER A MAJOR CONFLICT WITH SECRETARY OF INTERIOR, BOLLINGER, WAS APPOINTED CHIEF OF THE NEW FEDERAL AGENCY, THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FOREST SERVICE. GIFFORD’S FRIENDSHIP WITH ROOSEVELT AND HIS DEFINITION OF FORESTRY, “GROWING TREES AS CROPS”, CONVINCED ROOSEVELT TO PLACE THE NEW AGENCY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. THE NEW AGENCY’S MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLE WAS TERMED, “CONSERVATION-WISE USE”. THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR, HOWEVER, TENDED TO FOLLOW JOHN MUIRE’S PRINCIPLE OF “PRESERVATION”.
IN 1905 THE FOREST SERVICE WAS FORMED, AND TO THIS DAY, THE AGENCY REMAINS FOCUSED ON COMMERCIAL HARVESTING OF TREES FROM THE 193 MILLION ACRES OF NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS. THE TIMBER SALES ARE PREPARED BY EMPLOYEES OF THE FOREST SERVICE AND THEN AWARDED TO THE HIGHEST BID BY COMMERCIAL LOGGING COMPANIES. THERE HAVE BEEN SOME POSITIVE CHANGES, SUCH AS THE MULTIPLE USE- SUSTAINED YIELD ACT OF 1960 AND THE NATIONAL FOREST MANAGEMENT ACT OF 1976, BUT TREE HARVESTING REMAINS THE DRIVING GOAL OF THE AGENCY. TRUE, THE HARVESTING LEVELS HAVE DROPPED SIGNIFICANTLY AS A RESULT OF PRESSURE FROM ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS. THE FOREST SERVICE IN THE 1970’S WAS HARVESTING 11.5 BILLION BOARD FEET OF TIMBER, AND IS NOW HARVESTING BETWEEN 2 AND 3 BILLION BOARD FEET, BUT CLEAR-CUTTING LARGE AREAS OF ECONOMICALLY MATURE STANDS REMAINS THE PREFERRED SILVICULTURAL TREATMENT. NO ATTENTION IS PAID TO THE UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL ECOSYSTEMS WITHIN THE SALE AREA, AND EVER ACRE RECEIVES THE SAME TREATMENT. THIS TREATMENT IS DESTROYING DIVERSITY, AND TO EXACERBATE THE DESTRUCTION, THE HARVEST AREA IS PLANTED WITH SINGLE SPECIES AND SINGLE AGE CLASS SEEDLINGS TO FURTHER DESTROY DIVERSITY.
WESTERN CONIFER STANDS ARE FREQUENTLY PLANTED WITH SINGLE SPECIES AND SINGLE AGE CLASSES FOLLOWING TIMBER HARVESTING OPERATIONS. ALL TO OFTEN, NON-INDIGENOUS SPECIES ARE INTRODUCED, AND NATURAL DIVERSITY IS DESTROYED. EVEN THOUGH THESE WESTERN NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS WERE LESS DIVERSIFIED THAN THE NATURAL EASTERN HARDWOOD ECOSYSTEMS, THEY STILL EXHIBIT DIVERSITY IN AGE CLASSES AND SOME SPECIES DIVERSITY IF ALLOWED TO REGENERATE FROM THE NATIVE SEED SOURCES. THE DECIDUOUS ECOSYSTEMS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES ARE SHADE TOLERANT AND CONTAIN A MIX OF AGE CLASSES AND NUMEROUS DIFFERENT SPECIES. I WAS PRESENT FOR A MEETING AT THE DUKE EXPERIMENTAL FOREST IN THE UPPER PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN, WHEN FOREST SERVICE RESEARCH DIVISION WAS RECOMMENDING TRANSITIONING TO EVEN-AGE MANAGEMENT FOR THE NORTHERN HARDWOOD ECOSYSTEMS. THIS TRANSITION WAS BEING RECOMMEND TO INCREASE THE PRODUCTION OF WOOD FIBER PER ACRE. SEVERAL SCIENTISTS OBJECTED STRONGLY TO THE CHANGE FOR HARDWOOD TIMBER TYPES, HOWEVER THE TRANSITION WAS IMPLEMENTED.
SOON AFTER THE TRANSITION, I WAS TRANSFERRED TO SOUTHERN MISSOURI AND INITIATED A POLICY PAPER WHICH LIMITED THE USE OF CLEAR-CUTTING FOR THE CENTRAL HARDWOOD TYPES, UNLESS THERE WAS A RATIONALE PRESENTED TO RE-ESTABLISH PIONEER SPECIES ON A PARTICULAR SIGHT. THE PURPOSE WAS TO MAINTAIN OR IMPROVE THE DIVERSITY OF THE HARDWOOD ECOSYSTEMS BY USING SELECTIVE AND SHELTER-WOOD SILVICULTURAL TREATMENTS TO PRODUCE NATURAL REGENERATION BY THE MOTHER TREES ON SITE.
I ALSO INITIATED A PROJECT TO MAP AND COLLECT DATA ON THE INDIVIDUAL ECOSYSTEMS FOR ANALYZE ON THE DISTRICT. SINCE COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY WAS NOT YET AVAILABLE, THE DATA WAS STORED ON MACBEE KEY SORT CARDS. THE DISTRICT WAS 200 THOUSAND ACRES, AND THE AVERAGE ECOSYSTEM IDENTIFIED WAS 35 ACRES IN SIZE. THE STATE OF MISSOURI WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT FOUND THIS DATA VALUABLE IN THEIR TURKEY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM AND ENCOURAGED ME TO PRESENT A PAPER ON THE PROJECT AT THE 1964 MID-WEST WILDLIFE CONFERENCE. MY PAPER WAS TO DEMONSTRATE THE IMPORTANCE OF INDIVIDUAL ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT IN MAKING PROPER MANAGEMENT DECISIONS.
THESE EXPERIENCES AND OBSERVATIONS FORM THE BASIS FOR MY CONCERNS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHANGING PUBLIC FOREST LAND MANAGEMENT GOALS. ADVANCED RESEARCH AND STUDY HAVE INTENSIFIED MY CONCERNS AND LEAD TO A SEARCH FOR PEOPLE IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS THAT CAN INITIATE THE REQUIRED CHANGES. FOREST MANAGEMENT CAN NO LONGER FOCUS ON MANAGING THE RESOURCES FROM THE FORESTS. WITH ONLY TWENTY-SIX PERCENT OF EARTH’S ORIGINAL FORESTED LANDS REMAINING, WE MUST REFOCUS ON MANAGING THE FORESTS FOR HEALTH AND DIVERSITY, WITH FOREST RESOURCES BEING THE BY-PRODUCT OF SOUND MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE, YET LITTLE EFFORT APPEARS TO BE HAPPENING. EVEN OUR FORESTRY SCHOOLS REMAIN FOCUSED ON TRAINING STUDENTS IN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, RATHER THAN FOREST ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT. WE KNOW THAT DEFORESTATION IS HAVING AS MUCH EFFECT ON CLIMATE CHANGE AS IS THE CONSUMPTION OF FOSSIL FUELS, AND IS DESTROYING THE ESSENTIAL DIVERSITY OF THE NATURAL WORLD. SCIENCE TELLS US THAT EIGHTY PERCENT OF ALL LIFE ON EARTH REQUIRE TREES TO SURVIVE. FORESTS ARE A LARGE PART OF THE NATURAL WORLD, AND CONTINUE TO BE DEFORESTED AT THE RATE EQUIVALENT TO TWENTY FOOTBALL FIELDS EVERY MINUTE WORLDWIDE. AS THE NATURAL WORLD IS OBLITERATED, LIFE ON EARTH WILL DISAPPEAR AS WELL!
DELVING INTO THE DETAILS OF CREATION, REVEALS THE COMPLEXITY OF THE NATURAL WORLD AND HUMANITY’S DEPENDENCE UPON THAT WORLD FOR THE SUSTENANCE OF LIFE! MANAGEMENT OF OUR FOREST COVERED LANDS IS FAR MORE COMPLEX THAN THE AGRICULTURAL PRINCIPLES OF GROWING CROPS. ALTHOUGH OUR BODIES REQUIRE FOOD FOR SURVIVAL, MANAGING OUR REMAINING FOREST ECOSYSTEMS, TO SUSTAIN LIFE ON OUR PLANET, REQUIRES A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES AND CONCEPTS! PROPER MANAGEMENT OF OUR REMAINING FORESTED LANDS IS CRITICAL, AND MUST CHANGE. LIVING IN BALANCE WITH NATURE AND HELPING MAINTAIN THE HEALTH AND DIVERSITY OF OUR REMAINING FORESTED LANDS IS ESSENTIAL!