Management of Old-growth Forests in the Pacific Northwest

Deforestation of rain forests decreases the amount of rubber South America supplies, and businesses will soon have to find a new supply of this resource. The plants found in the rain forests can be useful to everyone around the world. The Kayapo, a people of the Amazon, are dependent upon plants in the Amazon. A research team came into the area that the Kayapo people inhabit. A team of scientists researched 1,200 plants in the area.

Logging on Public Lands: A Chainsaw Massacre As long as humans have lived in forested areas, they have cut down trees for lumber and/or to clear space for agricultural purposes. However, this practice has resulted in the destruction and near extinction of our national forests. Today, fewer than five percent of our country's original forests remain (Thirteen) and the U.S. Forest Service continues to allow more than 136,000 square miles to be logged each year (Byrant). Even more alarming, is the fact that only twenty percent of the current public forest lands are permanently protected by law, leaving nearly eighty percent to be consumed by chainsaws and bulldozers (Heritage...). National forests, or the sections of land set aside by the government for public use, were first established in 1891.

At first, the companies only wanted the big, high-grade ponderosa pine trees. They soon realized that the big trees run out and are hard to transport. In the 1920’s, new technology including chainsaws, bulldozers, and logging trucks allowed the logging companies to harvest at a much greater rate. By the depression, there were m... ... middle of paper ... ... Moir, Will. Logging, 2002.

Habitat fragmentation has led to the loss of genetic variability, nesting sites, and suitable population sizes to support cooperative breeding requirements. These factors have been responsible for the precipitous decline of the red-cockaded woodpecker. Because the red-cockaded woodpecker provides important ecological and economic benefits to both humans and the environment, we should strongly consider enacting a conservation plan for this species. The red-cockaded woodpecker, an inhabitant of mature pine forests and pine-grassland ecosystems from Maryland to eastern Texas, has had a troubled history within the last decade (Roise et al, 1990). Ten years ago, James documented a population decline in America’s largest remaining red-cockaded woodpecker population (1991).

Humans rely on trees in many aspects for their day-to-day lives. Trees provide food, shelter, medicines, and a fresh supply of oxygen. As of 2014, thirty percent of earth supports forests, but that number rapidly decreases. Because of deforestation, Earth loses swaths of forests the size of Panama every year. The people responsible for this mainly falls to the loggers who chop down trees for lumber and farmers who clear the trees away to make room for agriculture.

Since pre-agricultural times the world's forests have declined in size approximately twenty percent. Temperate forests have lost thirty-five percent of their area. Sub-tropical woody savannas and deciduous forests have lost twenty-five percen... ... middle of paper ... ...ncial and ecological disaster (Kerasote, 268). Proper forestry practices can accommodate the demand for timber products without completely destroying our forest resource. Economic based forestry practices on the other hand will decimate this resource.

Thousands of species have become extinct over the last four decades as a result of changes in land use and as a result of global warming. Whether or not the millions of species can adapt and evolve to climate changes is debatable. As this brief overview will report, the human species is not adapting well to the changes. It must be remembered that increases in the levels of carbon dioxide are certainly responsible for the risk many species face, but so is the way land is used, e.g., rain forest destruction. There is a feedback loop wherein plant life and the climate are interdependent.

If the Spotted Owl were to become extinct, life would go on without ... ... middle of paper ... ...=rc1_EAIM_0_A18852834&dyn=11!xrn_22_0_A18852834?sw_aep=uphoenixcustom Stone, R. (1993, July 16). Spotted owl plan kindles debate on salvage logging. Science, 261, 287. Hunt, F. (1989, June). A hoot for the future.

If the Australian Government did not sell Australian woodchips to these companies (for a price that is too low according to conservationists), the multi-million dollar corporations would buy woodchips from elsewhere. A likely second choice is the rich and diverse forests of South America, in countries such as Brazil. Such a choice would be even more socially irresponsible given that the Brazilian forest ecosystem is less managed, less regulated and less controlled than forests in Australia. Forests such as those in the Amazon Basin have already been exploited to the point where scientists are afra... ... middle of paper ... ...quarie Library Pty Ltd, New South Wales. Schultz B., "Green View - Forest sellout is a slap in the face", The West Australian newspaper, 10 May, 1999, p. 12.

Forests have been used since man first stood. As time has gone by, the forests population has been declining because of societies taking them down in order to make space for buildings, farm land, and to produce utilities. Today, they are being destroyed at a rate of about 45,000 square mile (105,000 sq.km) per year, equivalent in size to the state of Ohio (Lampton 29). It is estimated that more than one half of the earth’s forests have been lost because of deforestation ("Global"). Deforestation causes disruptions to the earth’s cycles in which it affects humans.