Forest Management Guiding Question: What steps toward sustainable forestry have been taken in the last 100 years? LESSON 3 Explain how logging is managed in U.S. national forests. Describe where most logging in the United States takes place. Discuss the potential effects of fire suppression on an ecosystem and on future fires. Explain how consumer demand is important to sustainable forestry. Explain how logging is managed in U.S. national parks. Reading Strategy Before reading the lesson, create a three-column KWL chart. In the first column, write what you know about forest management. In the second column, write what you want to know. After reading the lesson, write what you learned in the third column. Vocabulary multiple use, monoculture, prescribed burn, salvage logging, sustainable forestry certification On average, each person in the United States uses about 6200 cubic centimeters of wood each day. It s as if each of us cuts down a tree 15 meters (50 feet) tall every year! Where does all that wood come from? Most of it comes from land owned by logging companies, but some comes from our national forests. U.S. National Forests Logging in national forests is managed by the Forest Service, but profits go to timber companies. By the early 1900s, the eastern deciduous forests that fueled our nation s growth had all but disappeared. The deforestation caused fear of a timber famine. This fear led to the formation of our national forest system, which is made up of public lands set aside to grow trees for timber and to protect watersheds. Today, the U.S. national forest system consists of 78 million hectares (193 million acres). The national forests in the continental 48 states are shown in Figure 12. U.S. national forests are managed by the Forest Service. 11.3 LESSON PLAN PREVIEW Differentiated Instruction Students create a main idea and details chart as they read about U.S. national forests. Real World Students prepare a statement that explains tree plantations to their communities. Inquiry Students research to learn more about FSC-certified products. 11.3 RESOURCES In Your Neighborhood Activity, Your National Forests Bellringer Video, Angeles Ashes L.A. Wildfire Contained Lesson 11.3 Worksheets Lesson 11.3 Assessment Chapter 11 Overview Presentation FOCUS Watch the ABC News video Angeles Ashes L.A. Wildfire Contained. Use the video to launch a discussion of the positive and negative effects of forest fires. Source: Courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service Figure 12 U.S. National Forests The national forest system (green areas) was established in 1905. Forestry and Resource Management 337
National Forest Logging You may be surprised to learn that, in the United States, timber is harvested not by the government, but by private timber companies. Forest Service employees plan and manage timber sales and build roads to provide access for logging companies. But the logging companies receive the profits from the sale of the timber. Critics of the Forest Service have protested the fact that taxpayers money is being used to help private corporations harvest publicly held resources for profit. In recent decades, increased awareness of this issue has prompted many U.S. citizens to protest the way their public forests are managed. These citizens have urged that national and state forests be managed for recreation, wildlife, and ecosystem health, rather than mostly for timber. They are afraid that public forests have essentially become cropland for timber companies. Figure 13 National Forest Management Act There are many specific guidelines for the plans required by the 1976 National Forest Management Act (NFMA). National Forest Management Act In theory, the Forest Service has long recognized interests other than timber production. For the past 50 years or so, national forest management has been guided by the policy of multiple use, meaning that the forests were to be managed for recreation, wildlife habitat, mining, and other uses, in addition to timber. In practice, however, timber production has often been the primary use. In 1976, the U.S. Congress passed the National Forest Management Act (NFMA), which required that plans for renewable resource management be drawn up for every national forest. The plans were required to be consistent with the concepts of multiple use and maximum sustainable yield. You can see some of the law s specific guidelines in Figure 13. Under the NFMA, resource management plans have to: consider both economic and environmental factors provide for diversity of plant and animal communities and preserve the diversity of tree species ensure research and monitoring of management approaches allow increases in harvest levels only if sustainable ensure that timber will be harvested only where soils and wetlands will not be irreversibly damaged, land will be replanted quickly, and harvest methods will not be determined solely on the basis of financial return ensure that logging will occur only where possible impacts have been assessed; cuts will depend on the shape of the land; maximum size limits of cut trees will be established; and cuts will be carried out in a manner consistent with the protection of soil, watershed, fish, wildlife, recreation, and aesthetic resources. 338 Lesson 3
Success Stories In the years following passage of the National Forest Management Act, the Forest Service developed new programs to manage wildlife, nongame animals, and endangered species. It pushed for ecosystem-based management and ran programs for ecological restoration, helping plant and animal communities to recover. Logging methods were brought more in line with the Forest Service s ecosystem-based management goals. In 2006, the most recent year for which complete data are available, timber companies harvested 10.7 million cubic meters (378 million cubic feet) of live timber from national forests. Although this is a large amount, it is considerably less than the amount cut from other public forests or private lands. Logging has declined in national forests since the 1980s. In 2006, tree regrowth outpaced tree removal on these lands by more than 11 to 1. Challenges In the early 2000s, the trend shifted. In 2004, the Bush administration passed regulations that weakened the requirements of the National Forest Management Act. In 2005, the administration also repealed a rule the so-called roadless rule that limited the building of new roads in national forests. The overall effect of these changes was an increase in logging in national forests. The trend may be shifting back, however. In 2009, the Obama administration reinstated the roadless rule. As of 2010, however, many conflicting court cases pertaining to changes in the NFMA were still being sorted out. Those court decisions will clarify the powers of the NFMA. Reading Checkpoint What is the effect of the roadless rule? Reading Checkpoint It limits the building of new roads in national forests. Figure 14 U.S. National Forests Gunnison National Forest in Colorado has benefited directly from the NFMA. Forestry and Resource Management 339
Private Land Most logging in the United States today takes place on tree plantations owned by timber companies. Reading Checkpoint A tree plantation often has little variation in tree species or age. It therefore offers less habitat variety than a similar-sized forest, so its biodiversity is lower. Figure 15 Kirtland s Warbler Kirtland s warbler is North America s most critically endangered songbird. It only nests in young jack pines, and strict control of natural forest fires greatly reduced its habitat, pushing it toward extinction in the 1980s. Only 167 singing males were found in the United States in 1987. Most logging in the United States today takes place on private land, often on land owned by timber companies. Most of this harvesting is from plantations of fast-growing tree species in the Northwest and South. These plantations are typically monocultures, or large-scale plantings of a single crop. Also, all the trees in a given stand are planted at the same time, so the stands are even-aged. Stands are cut after a certain number of years, called the rotation time, and then the land is replanted with seedlings. Because there is little variation in tree species or tree age, plantations do not offer as much habitat variety as most forests. As a result, their biodiversity is lower. Most ecologists and foresters view tree plantations as croplands rather than as functioning forestland. However, some plantations are harvested in ways that maintain uneven-aged stands, which are more similar to a natural forest. And the use of tree plantations for timber protects additional natural forests from being cut. Reading Checkpoint Why is there less biodiversity in a tree plantation than in a similar-sized forest? Fire Policies Suppression of all wildfires can endanger ecosystems, property, and people. Ironically, some recent ecosystem management efforts contradict the advice of the Forest Service s lovable spokesbear, Smokey. Smokey s reminder that only you can prevent forest fires has done some good; it has probably reduced the number of forest fires caused by people. Unfortunately, the Forest Service also took Smokey s message to heart. For more than a hundred years, it suppressed all fires, both natural and human-caused. Such suppression may have harmed some forests. Ecosystem Effects Current scientific research shows that many ecosystems depend on fire and that diversity and abundance of species decline without it. For example, certain plants have seeds that germinate only after a fire. The jack pine is one of those plants. The Kirtland s warbler, shown in Figure 15, is a songbird that nests only in large stands of young jack pines. When there are fewer fires, there are fewer young jack pines. Currently there are adequate numbers of young jack pines only in small parts of the warbler s former breeding range of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ontario. The warbler nests primarily in one tiny area in Michigan. Thanks to an intensive recovery plan, Kirtland s warbler populations are now recovering. It is still North America s most critically endangered songbird, however. As you can see, fires can benefit some organisms. 340 Lesson 3
Future Fire Potential In the long term, suppression of small, natural fires can lead to larger, more dangerous fires ones that permanently damage forests, destroy human property, and threaten human lives. Suppression of small fires allows limbs, sticks, and leaf litter to build up on the forest floor, basically providing kindling for a catastrophic fire. Such fuel buildup helped cause the 1988 fires in Yellowstone National Park, the 2009 fires in southern California, and thousands of other wildfires. Fire suppression and fuel buildup have made catastrophic fires significantly greater problems than they were in the past. To reduce fuel buildup and improve forest health, the Forest Service and other land management agencies have recently been burning areas of forest under carefully controlled conditions. These prescribed burns, or controlled burns, have helped restore ecosystems that depend on fire. Prescribed burns also have helped Kirtland s warbler (Figure 16) and other fire-dependent species of plants and animals recover from nearextinction. Rarely, a prescribed burn gets out of control, as happened in 2000 when homes and government labs were destroyed at Los Alamos, New Mexico. Such rare accidents have led to public misunderstanding and interference from uninformed politicians, which have limited the use of prescribed burns. This actually increases the risk of injury, property damage, and ecosystem loss from wildfires. What Do you think? Wildfire suppression has left some large forests in danger of catastrophic wildfires. Government agencies will probably never be able to carry out prescribed burns on all this land. Suggest some ways to help protect people s homes near these forests and to decrease the likelihood of major fires. What Do You Think? Answers will vary, but should list reasonable suggestions both for protecting homes and for decreasing the likelihood of major fires. Kirtland s Warbler Census 1978 2008 2000 1800 1600 Singing males 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 Year Figure 16 Kirtland s Warbler and Prescribed Burns Once researchers discovered that Kirtland s warblers only nested in 5 7-year-old jack pines (seedling, right), they came up with a plan. The Kirtland s Warbler Recovery Plan, instituted in 1976 and updated in 1985, includes management of the bird s breeding area, including regularly scheduled prescribed burns. The warbler s population is now more than 10 times its 1987 level (graph above). Forestry and Resource Management 341
Reading Checkpoint Removing snags after a natural disturbance Healthy Forests Restoration Act Shortly after the devastating 2003 California fires, Congress passed the Healthy Forests Restoration Act. The goal of the act is to make forests less fire-prone. Although this law encourages some prescribed burning, it primarily promotes the removal of small trees, underbrush, and snags by timber companies. The removal of snags following a natural disturbance is called salvage logging. Economically, salvage logging seems to make good sense. Ecologically, however, snags have immense value; the insects that feed on them provide food for wildlife, and many animals depend on holes in snags for nesting and roosting. Removing timber from recently burned land can also cause severe erosion and soil damage. Salvage logging can also slow forest regrowth and promote more wildfires. And major wildfires can damage both the economic and ecological value of a forest. Many scientists and most environmental advocates have criticized the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, saying it increases commercial logging in national forests while doing little to reduce catastrophic fires near populated areas. Critics also fear that it makes it easier to log in national forests, decreasing the ability of the government to enforce environmental regulations. In some cases, at least, those fears are well founded. The Forest Service had interpreted the law in such a way that it believed it could stop preparing environmental impact statements before allowing logging in some plots in national forests. In 2007, some environmental groups challenged this assumption in court and won. The environmental groups feared that large timber companies could use the streamlined process as a way to get approval for projects that would not be approved through the usual processes. Reading Checkpoint What is salvage logging? Figure 17 Healthy Forests Restoration Act The Healthy Forests Restoration Act encouraged more salvage logging. In this area, which had been burned in a forest fire, salvage logging would remove all the snags and other dying trees. 342 Lesson 3
Sustainable Forestry Products The response of timber companies to consumer demand is helping to promote sustainable forestry. Any company can claim that its timber harvesting practices are sustainable, but can a consumer know whether they really are? The answer is yes. Several organizations in the United States and elsewhere, such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), now examine the practices of timber companies. These organizations offer sustainable forestry certification to products produced using methods they consider sustainable. The FSC has the strictest standards and the most widely accepted certification process of any organization that certifies forest products. Certified wood products carry logos of the certifying organization, as you can see in Figure 18. You can look for these logos on wood products and paper products that you purchase. Some national home-improvement stores and smaller retail stores now carry certified wood because consumers have demanded it. And the decision of these retailers to supply certified wood to consumers requires that timber companies supply it. In British Columbia, Canada, for example, 70 percent of the annual timber harvest now is certified. Although it is more costly for the timber industry to produce certified wood, it seems that they will do so if consumers demand it. So you can protect the environment with your wallet, using the basic economic concept of supply and demand. Figure 18 Certified Forest Products The Forest Stewardship Council has the strictest certification process of any organization that certifies forest products. You can see the FSC certification logo on a box of tissues (above left) and lumber (above right). Lesson 3 Assessment For answers to the Lesson 3 Assessment, see page A 17 at the back of the book. 3 1. Explain What are the roles of the Forest Service and timber companies in logging U.S. national forests? What are the requirements of the National Forest Management Act? 2. Infer Generally, how does a tree plantation s biodiversity differ from that of a natural forest? Give two reasons for your answer. 3. Pose Questions Suppose you lived very close to a fire-prone forest where there had been no fire for many years, and the Forest Service wanted to have a prescribed burn there. What are two questions you would ask the Forest Service? 4. Infer How do organizations such as the FSC decide whether to certify a product? 5. Suppose you were an environmental activist protesting a logging operation that is cutting old-growth trees near your town. Then you find out that if the protest is successful, the company will move to a developing nation and cut its old-growth forest instead. Would you still protest the logging in your town? Would you try any other approaches? Forestry and Resource Management 343