California

If Columbus had discovered the eastern U.S. rather than Hispaniola in 1492, he would have been confronted by nearly a billion acres of trees. This menacing deciduous forest spread nearly unbroken from northern Alabama and Georgia to the far reaches of Canada, and from the Atlantic seaboard to the Mississippi River. It ranks as one of the great temperate woods of all time.

Compared to other developed countries America is still a land of trees. Most would agree this is a happy fact, though some, I'm sure, would argue that there's too much chlorophyll and not enough concrete in the world. Who needs all that oxygen anyway? Perhaps half of that original woodland remains, though Boone and Crockett would not recognize their old haunts. Huge swaths are spindly second and third growth forests. Much of the rest are cultivated trees found in suburban parks and backyards, often non-native species. They provide seasonal decor for our manicured world.

About 250 million acres, or half, of this wooded realm is owned by the government, specifically the U.S. Forest Service, and under the designation of National Forests. Most of us assume that the Forest Service will take care of our forests in a sort of kindly and paternal way, and provide us with shady woodlands and trails for the future. This was the "visionary plan" conceived about a century ago when a few enlightened souls did the math. Simple enough-cut all the trees down and there won't be any left. This seemed like a really bad result, so our visionary planners came up with the idea of designating our national forests as reserves, to serve as "nature banks" and provide trees, wildlife, clean water, and other things natural for posterity. Unfortunately they couldn't factor greed into all their high-minded plans and equations.

Instead of reserves these Forest Service lands have been designated "multiple use," which allows a number of patently unecological activities-grazing, mining, oil and gas extraction, and development of ski resorts and condominiums to name but a few. And of course there's all that "scientific forestry," a two bit term for clear-cutting, including thousands of acres of thousand year old redwood trees along the California coast. They kept cutting until only about 3% of those original trees remain (there's that math again). And they'll get those too, if we let them.

And here's the thing. All of these activities are carried out through leasing arrangements to private companies, at a loss to the govenment, specifically you and me since we're the taxpayers. And this is business as usual! The way it has always been done. In one recent decade, according to the Wilderness Society, our Forest Service lost two billion dollars with their pathetic math skills. If they're going to rape our forests at least we should be getting paid market price for it. Better yet, revert to the original concept of the Forest Service and manage our forests sensibly, before it's too late.

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If Columbus had discovered the eastern U.S. rather than Hispaniola in 1492, he would have been confronted by nearly a billion acres of trees. This menacing deciduous forest spread nearly unbroken from northern Alabama and Georgia to the far reaches of Canada, and from the Atlantic seaboard to the Mississippi River. It ranks as one of the great temperate woods of all time. Compared to other developed countries America is still a land of trees. Most would agree this is a happy fact, though some, I'm sure, would argue that there's too much chlorophyll and not enough concrete in the world. Who needs all that oxygen anyway? Perhaps half of that original woodland remains, though Boone and Crockett would not recognize their old haunts. Huge swaths are spindly second and third growth forests. Much of the rest are cultivated trees found in suburban parks and backyards, often non-native species. They provide seasonal decor for our manicured world. About 250 million acres, or half, of this wooded realm is owned by the government, specifically the U.S. Forest Service, and under the designation of National Forests. Most of us assume that the Forest Service will take care of our forests in a sort of kindly and paternal way, and provide us with shady woodlands and trails for the future. This was the "visionary plan" conceived about a century ago when a few enlightened souls did the math. Simple enough-cut all the trees down and there won't be any left. This seemed like a really bad result, so our visionary planners came up with the idea of designating our national forests as reserves, to serve as "nature banks" and provide trees, wildlife, clean water, and other things natural for posterity. Unfortunately they couldn't factor greed into all their high-minded plans and equations. Instead of reserves these Forest Service lands have been designated "multiple use," which allows a number of patently unecological activities-grazing, mining, oil and gas extraction, and development of ski resorts and condominiums to name but a few. And of course there's all that "scientific forestry," a two bit term for clear-cutting, including thousands of acres of thousand year old redwood trees along the California coast. They kept cutting until only about 3% of those original trees remain (there's that math again). And they'll get those too, if we let them. And here's the thing. All of these activities are carried out through leasing arrangements to private companies, at a loss to the govenment, specifically you and me since we're the taxpayers. And this is business as usual! The way it has always been done. In one recent decade, according to the Wilderness Society, our Forest Service lost two billion dollars with their pathetic math skills. If they're going to rape our forests at least we should be getting paid market price for it. Better yet, revert to the original concept of the Forest Service and manage our forests sensibly, before it's too late.

© Danny Kimberlin 2015