Chapter 10

Forests

Forests and Deforestation

• The destruction of our native forests offers the most obvious evidence of how humans have altered natural ecosystems

• Imagine what Ohio and Michigan must have looked like in 1600, and how different it looks today

• Some level of deforestation is necessary for civilization. How much is too much?

Global Forest Resources

• Trees are the largest and oldest life forms on earth

• We have lost half of forested lands world-wide

• More importantly we have lost the majority of our tropical rainforests – our most productive incubators of life– Tropical rainforests comprise 6% of Earth’s

land surface but stunning diversity of life forms

U.S. Forest Resources• Forest cover in the United States is down

from 870 million acres in 1770 to 483 million acres today– Originally about 60% of the land was forest; now

it is about 33%– Almost all of the 483 million acres is second

growth. Only 6% of nation’s timber land is old growth

• In the West, 68.9% of forest land is federally owned; In the East the figure is 17.4%

Questions and Discussion• Note 2: Logging communities may espouse anti-

environmental messages; radical environmental groups may engage in “eco-terrorism”

• Note 3: Civil disobedience. Julia Butterfly Hill and “Luna.” What should the company do?

• Notes 4: Much deforestation occurred because of the desire to clear land for agriculture

• Note 5: Clean Development Mechanism and Kyoto– Developed countries would pay undeveloped countries to

grow trees

Communique from the Lorax

• How should the government agency respond to the communique?

• How should the logging company respond?

• Is there any obligation to inform workers of risks?

Forest Ecosystem Services

• Watershed protection services– Among the easiest to measure and the most important– Consider the costs associated with water quality protection in the

Great Lakes

• Soil stabilization and erosion control• Air quality• Climate regulation and carbon sequestration• Biological diversity• Recreation and tourism• Non timber commercial forest products• Cultural values• Consider the relevance of this discussion to urban sprawl

– If we could only plan more efficient development we would have substantial land for forest renewal

Questions and Discussion

• How persuasive are Krieger’s claims?– Would planting mesquite trees obviate the

need for Tucson’s dust control program?

• Consider the value of watershed protection in the experience of New York City

NYC Watershed

Maphttp://www.catskillcenter.org/programs/csp/H20/Lesson4/nycmap.gif

Consider the Economic Problem• Eco-services tend to be assets that are shared by the

general public (watershed, air quality, biodiversity)

• While the general public might be willing to pay a lot of money to protect these services, the transaction costs associated with their protection are high – at least until we have better evidence to support the value of these services

• Even where the general public might be willing to pay, as note 3 suggests these are not values that are easily captured– Why should we pay for the purification services of trees that

we now get for free?

The Timber Industry• Silviculture

– The science of forestry

• Clearcutting– “Even-aged management”– Much more efficient way to increase wood production

• But consider the costs in terms of other eco-services

– Variations include seed tree harvesting and shelterwood harvesting

• Selection harvesting– Much more environmentally friendly

Logging Methodshttp://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/FNR-182.pdf

Loaderhttp://www.dof.virginia.gov/images/log-loader.gif

Dangle-Head Tree Delimberhttp://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/logging/mechanical/processor_harvester/delimbers.html

Skidderhttp://www.dof.virginia.gov/images/log-skidder.gif

Roller Chopperhttp://www.blm.gov/nstc/resourcenotes/rn67.html

Coon Creek (Aerial Photo)

Environmental Impacts from Logging

• Soil erosion and compaction

• Water quality degradation

• Wildlife habitat damage and loss

Resource Law Relevant to Forestry • Consider what you know –

– Railroad land grants allowed large companies to consolidate holdings of private lands

– Federal law (NFMA) requires comprehensive land use planning for multiple use on federal land

– Endangered species can often upset landowner expectations on both public and private lands

– Wilderness designation removes land from eligibility for logging

Historical Forestry Law• Timber and Stone Act of 1878

– Allowed grants of 160 acres at $2.50/acre for land chiefly valuable for timber ands stone for exclusive use and benefit of owner

• 1891 Forest Reserve Act– When repealed in 1907 there were 159 forests covering 150

million acres, primarily in the West

• 1897 Organic Administration Act– Forests established for two purposes – to secure favorable

conditions for water flows and to furnish a continuous supply of timber

• Weeks Act of 1911– Authorized purchase of forest lands to protect watersheds– Led to purchase of 28 million acres of Eastern national forests

Modern Forestry Law: MUSYA

• Multiple Use and Sustained Yield Act (MUSYA) of 1960– Purposes of forests expanded to encompass

“outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed, and wildlife and fish”

– Management to be carried out so that forests are “utilized in the combination that will best meet the needs of the American people.”

– “[T]he decision as to the proper mix of uses within any particular area is left to the sound discretion and expertise of the Forest Service….”

Modern Forestry Law• Bolle Report

– Highly critical report of Forest Service administration– Alleged that timber production was driving the

management of the forests

• Church Report– Raised concerns about clearcutting in the Monongahela

National Forest of West Virginia

• Forest and Rangelands Renewable Resources Planning Act– Requires national and unit level planning

West Virginia Div of the Izaak Walton League v. Butz

• Organic Administration Act authorized the sale of – – “the dead, matured, or large growth trees found upon such

national forests …. Such timber … shall be marked and designated, and shall be cut and removed under the supervision of [a Forest Service employee.]”

• Clearcutting removes all of the trees– Plaintiffs claimed that Forest Service was allowing removal

of more than matured trees in violation of the Act– Forest Service claimed that the “large growth of trees”

language referred to a “stand of trees”, not individual trees– But the court finds that the Service’s interpretation would

treat the words “dead” and “matured” as surplusage.

Questions and Discussion, pp. 1186-88

• Note how money from timber sales is distributed– 25% goes to states for roads and schools– 10% goes for roads and trails on national forest

• Knutsen-Vandeberg Act– Designed to provide a premium over the purchase

price of timber for mitigation costs incurred by the Forest Service

– But the Forest Service doesn’t use the premium approach

– 24% of all timber receipts go into the K-V fund and the agency has becoming dependent on this money

National Forest Management Act

• Use a systematic interdisciplinary approach (like NEPA)

• Provide for public participation in planning• Insure NEPA compliance• Specify guidelines designed to achieve the

RPA goals– Insure that timber will be harvested ONLY WHERE

certain environmental conditions met• Can’t select method solely based upon economics

– Insure that clearcutting occurs ONLY WHERE optimum method and environmental and aesthetic conditions met

NFMA Rules• NFMA provides for a “Committee of Scientists” who are not

employees of the FS to provide advice (Pinchot legacy)

• Much confusion rights now– 1982 Rules: Require FS to maintain viable populations of

species AMD requires species to be selected as MIS

– 2000 Rules focus on ecological sustainability

• Bush Administration is allowing each Forest Supervisor to choose which rules to follow– Virtually all have chosen the 1982 rules

• What’s the difference?

Sierra Club v. Espy• Nice description of distinctions between “even-aged

management” and “selection management”

• District court held that even aged management could be used only in exceptional circumstances– But Congress rejected amendments to the law that would

have made selection harvesting the “preferred” method

• Constraints on clearcutting reflect congressional “wariness” of even-aged management, but they do not require that it be done only in exceptional circumstances

• Clearcutting is the rule in most forests– Would ecological sustainability approach have changed

this?

Questions and Discussion• 1. What would be better grounds for challenging even-aged

management program?– That it’s not the “optimum method”?– That it will not be as protective of other resources?– Would ecological sustainability help?

• 3. Note the huge difference between managing for a “natural” forest and managing for the agency’s view of the “desired” forest– Consider the meaning of “ecosystem management”

• 4. Note the process for setting timber yields on national forests– Determine the “suitable timber base”; determine the

LTSYC of the base; determine an ASQ• 8. Note the policy of non-declining even flow (NDEF)

Idaho Sporting Congress v. Rittenhouse

• Boise National Forest

• LRMP uses a “proxy on proxy” approach– MIS serve as a proxy for overall species health and

habitat serves as a proxy for viable populations of such species

– Recall that the 1982 rules require maintenance of viable populations

• Court finds method invalid– Even if method was valid, the agency had failed to

maintain adequate old growth habitat

Questions and Discussion

• 3. Is timber production still driving the management of the forest?

• Is Professor Houck right in suggesting that the Committee of Scientists intended the Agency to use the natural forest as its baseline rather than the “desired” forest used by the Forest Service?

Sierra Club v. Marita• Is the Forest Service required to use the science

of conservation biology in developing forest plans?

• What is the Sierra Club’s argument about this science? Why does the court reject their argument?

• Why has the Forest Service been so resistant to using conservation biology?

• Should the Forest Service be required to show the reliability of the science that it uses as in Daubert?

Roads and Forests• Roadless rule received more public comments than any rule

ever– Substantial support for the rule

• The numbers vary but current national forests host at least 380,000 miles of roads -- enough to go around the Earth 15 times!

• Kootenai Tribe v. Veneman– Court upholds the rule against a challenge by

development interests– Government did not appeal from adverse district court

decision

• Wyoming district court case pending in 10th Circuit

Questions and Discussion

• Consider the fiscal costs associated with logging– Many timber sales cost the government more money

than it receives in revenue– The Tongass National Forest hosts the largest

temperate rainforest in the world• The logging program there is among the costliest to

taxpayers.

• Bush Administration proposed rules would essentially allow States to petition for exemption from the roadless rule– Because of the revenues they receive, most states

will have a strong incentive to petition