Eric:
> Although I can see the case for thinning, I think we'd
>have a better chance of "helping" the forest if we simply
> take fewer trees from any given area.
Our place was "high graded" which means they took all the
trees suitable for timber and left the rest. It made the
land less useful for timber production. So.. when and how
do we manage forests? Here in the USA the eastern forests
have been destroyed by waves of imported pests. Dutch elm
disease, chestnut blight, various moths, loggers, and now the
newest threat is a beetle from Asia. These require
different techniques from the West coast which still has some
untouched forests.
I heard on NPR yesterday the claim that this new beetle from
Asia is about 100 times worse than Y2K and will ruin most
deciduous forests. It was introduced into NY and is slowly
spreading. In a few years the East coast will be a vastly
different place. No more sugar maples, etc. Truth or hype?
Regarding forest management, i would like to see families connected
to forests and guidelines given to encourage sustainable harvests.
If ecosystems are ruined the family would loose the land. Areas
with virgin forests would be preserved for their genetic diversity.
We are so far from this ideal that finding problems to fix are
easy.
----
jeff owens, [EMAIL PROTECTED], http://www.xprt.net/~jko
underground house, solar power, self-reliance, edible landscape
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