Management of Old-growth Forests in the Pacific Northwest
When westward expansion brought settlers to the Northwest in the 1800s, they discovered that coniferous trees “forty feet in circumference [that] shot two-hundred feet straight up” flourished in the forests of the Pacific coast (Ervin 55). These early pioneers found the opportunity for economic growth in logging these vast forests of towering trees unlike any they had seen before. Today, the timber industry still remains the backbone of economic support for Washington, Oregon, and northwestern California, but an inevitable conflict has arisen between humans and our environment. A struggle over the control of the use of the old-growth forests threatens the balance of the ecosystem and the stability of the economy in the Pacific Northwest.
Each year, 55,000 acres of Northwest forest land succumb to chainsaws to feed the ever-increasing foreign and domestic demands for lumber (Time 21). To profitably satisfy these demands, old-growth trees, those of two hundred years or more, are sought by Northwest logging companies. At this rate, environmentalists believe the unique ecosystem created by old-growth forests is in danger of being destroyed. To protect the old-growth forests and the plants and animals found there, a reduction must be made in the amount of old-growth trees logged each year. Yet reducing the amount of logging in the Pacific Northwest decreases the current number of jobs involved in harvesting the forests and the revenue received by both the companies and the government for their processed logs. To fully understand the current conflict over the old-growth forests, we must look at what each side stands to lose and then suggest a possible balanced sol...
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...reach an agreement before it is too late. At our current rate of logging, the old-growth forest, its ecosystem, and its loggers will disappear in less than 15 years (Watkins 12).
References
Abate, Tom. “Which bird is the better indicator species for old-growth forest?” Bioscience Jan. 1992: 8-9.
Carey, Andrew, Janice Reid, and Scott Horton. “Spotted Owl Density in Northwest California.” Journal of Wildlife Management 54.1 (1990): 11-18.
Davis, Phillip A. Congressional Quarterly 4 Sept., 1991: 2611-12.
“Environment’s Little Big Bird.” Time 16 April 1990: 21.
Ervin, Keith. Fragile Majesty. Seattle: The Mountaineers, 1989.
Gup, Ted. “Owl vs. Man.” Time 25 June 1990: 56-65.
Satchell, Michael. “The Endangered Logger.” U.S. News and World Report 25 June 1990: 27-29.
Watkins, T. H. “The Boundaries of Loss.” Wilderness Spring 1991: 12-16.
The Pacific Northwest is perhaps most commonly known for its awe-inspiring old growth forests that have been gracing the land for hundreds and hundreds of years. The land in British Colombia, Canada, Washington state, Oregon, and parts of Northern California are the only areas in the world where these forests exist. One of the most unique and amazing inhabitants of this age-old forest is the Northern Spotted Owl. The Northern Spotted Owl has been on the endangered species list for over ten years now. The Northern Spotted Owl can only be found in these old growth forests. The northern spotted owl requires many acres old forests to survive, due to its scarce food supply. They are very sensitive to their habitat, and simply cannot survive in any other environment. These owls, as well as the forests have been disappearing at an alarming rate due to the immense logging industry in its area.
The spotted owl is an eighteen-inch tall bird-of-prey that roams the thick forests of the Pacific Norwest. The adult spotted owl enjoys a life at the top of the food chain for the region. This bird has only one enemy, the logging companies that inadvertently threaten its natural habitat. Clear-cutting operations of old growth forests destroy breeding and hunting areas. Clear-cut logging is the timber industry's version of strip mining. Almost nothing remains that resembles the forest that once stood there except for thousands of tree stumps the size of Volkswagens.
Wheeler, Rebecca S., and Rachel Swords. Code-switching: teaching standard English in urban classrooms. Urbana, Ill.: National Council of Teachers of English, 2006. Print.
The term 'globalization' has been subjected to a variety of interpretations. Though at its simplest it can be seen as how the world has become integrated economically, politcally, socially and culturally through the advances of technology, communication and transport John Baylis et al. (2011).
209). This seems to be a fairly common thing to do among the codeswitching community. The Meyers-Scotton article addresses this by saying codeswitching is more common in certain cultures and is “used to signal their perceptions or desires about group memberships.” This leads me to another example provided by Anh where she writes “There was one time my friend and I notice a hot guy walking towards us and we switched into Vietnamese: “Cậu ấy đẹp trai thế!” (Means he is so handsome!)” She said that in her culture they generally codeswitch when they want to discuss something without the non-native speakers knowing what they are saying. Aside from that alone, after interviewing my colleagues and reading their very detailed and specific examples as well as the examples provided in the two academic journals and the textbook this also seems to be a common thing for codeswitchers of any culture to do. It does not seem to matter what they are talking about or where they are in the world, if they want to discuss something with people near them that do not seem to speak their native language they will intentionally switch languages just to conceal their
8. Taylor, Dan. 1998. Audubon Society Inspired to Action by Bird Die -offs . 17 Jan. 1998 . E-mail . Available bkus@sunstroke.sdsu.edu
Herter, D.R., Hicks, L.L. 2000. Barred Owl and Spotted Owl populations and habitats in North America. Raptor Research Foundation 34: 279-286.
Logging in the United States is a very controversial subject. Many people have different opinions on how we should take care of our forests and sometimes the arguments can get heated. Logging needs to be done to protect small western communities from catastrophic wild fires. Logging also gives small communities a way of income. When people think of logging they think of clear cutting which is damaging to the environment, but clear cutting does not happen too much on the national forests. The Forest Service has strict guidelines in which they follow to make sure the forest will stay healthy for years to come. Logging must be done with wildlife, human effects of the forest, and the health of the forest in mind. Logging can ultimately liberate small towns in the forest from fire danger and liberate the towns from having to depend on surrounding communities for a way of income. The forest and animals are also liberated from dense forest which can suffocate animals and plants. The animals are provided with more food with grasses after logging has accrued. Logging if done right is great for the forest and towns that are in the middle of the woods.
Humans have been changing the Western forests' fire system since the settlement by the Europeans and now we are experiencing the consequences of those changes. During the summer of 2002, 6.9 million acres of forests was burnt up in the West (Wildland Fires, 1). This figure is two times the ten year annual average, and it does not look like next summer will be any better (Wildfire Season, 1). Foresters have been trying to restore the forests back to their original conditions by thinning and prescribed fires but have encountered countless delays. Politicians are proposing sweeping changes in bills, which have caused great controversy, in efforts to correct the problems that the Forest Service has faced in restoration projects. Are these bills necessary or is there a better solution that politicians are overlooking?
When people in todays society code-switch, we enhance our character and overall roundness to ourselves. There are instances where people code-switch to communicate with others in a different language, or we change our tone with certain groups of people. Speaking multiple languages in a household, can lead to a lot of code-switching because you can have that one relative who can’t speak english, so you become a “translator” to help them with daily tasks. Even though code-switching can happen with different languages, the most common code-switching is used when speaking to different groups of people. Talking to an adult would have a different type of tone, rather than speaking to one of your friends. Code-switching is used to help strengthen
America is home for thousands of cultures and languages. Most people can speak at least two different languages either because of the environment and family or simply by taking another world language class in school. One of the advantages with knowing more than one language is that code-switching becomes a part of you and it happens naturally. In “‘ I Don’t ‘Code-Switch’ to Hide my Identity. I ‘Code-Switch’ to celebrate It,”’ Vaidehi Mujumdar states that code-switching is enriching and exciting based on her personal experience. In “learning How to Code-Switching: Humbling, But Necessary,” Eric Deggans claims that code-switching is valuable and necessary in everyday lifestyle and it is lot more than just being about cultural differences. If one were to put Deggans and
Through reading this article, it has helped me understand the concept of language shift. In particular, this article has helped me to understand that as people code-switch, they instantly uphold that certain language as it becomes part of their repertoire and they become familiar with it. As this process evolves, there becomes a language shift within certain communities and it is this language shift that influences language endangerment and
Andrew Sampson states that total proscription of mother tongue is detrimental to some extent, suggesting that code switching of mother tongue and English, under a good strategy of control, is useful for academic needs and even communicating purposes by concluding, “The results of this study suggest that code-switching is not necessarily connected to learners’ ability level and rarely signals an unwillingness to communicate in L2, but rather serves communicative classroom functions such as expressing equivalence, discussing procedural concerns, floor holding, reiterating concepts, and forming group relationships” (302). Code-switching not only improves the learner’s proficiency in English, but also allows the students to learn. In most cases, English language is meant for English-speaking students’ at level L2 or L3. Therefore, teachers should help non-native English-speaking students to code-switch in their communications. Code switching would improve the learner’s ability to identify his or her mistakes and correct those mistakes while she or he continues to learn English. At the same time, if possible, the teachers might use code switching to illustrate particular concepts and subjects. In other words, the teachers themselves can use the learner’s L1 or any other language to explain concepts or offer examples on the subjects in the learner’s L1. However, the teachers should avoid using oversimplified English words and vocabularies. This is because such approach would not help the learner to perfect his or her English
In that moment I experienced code-mixing while I was explaining my topic. The class started, I spoke and while I was explaining my point of view my brain started to think in English, subsequently, I was not able to speak a complete sentence in Spanish. Literally, I mixed English and Spanish to create every sentence I said. My brain could not remember how to say words as “environment”, “aware”, “concerned” and some other words that event though I know them in Spanish, they were not in my mind at that time. And another case, but this time about code-switching, happened to me just three days ago when I went to a convention of languages where people who to practice the different languages they know. The reason I went was to try Portuguese but there were not people in the table that language. Under those circumstances, I sat down with the people who was speaking in English, next to the ones practicing French. Two hours later, a person who knew English and Portuguese arrived and sat down next to me. When I was speaking to him in Portuguese, a person that was speaking French turned his head and started to speak with us in the language we were using. This caused finding myself speaking in three different language groups; I was speaking with the English group, speaking Portuguese with other two persons, and Spanish too with some French. There I was speaking three languages at the
Thomson, Steve. "Saving B.C's Forests through the Trees." The Filipino Post 12-18 July 2012: 12. Print.