Page 338 - Environment: The Science Behind the Stories

All timber-harvesting methods disturb soil, alter habi-
tat, and affect plants and animals. All methods modify forest
structure and composition. Most methods speed runoff, raise
flooding risk, and increase soil erosion, degrading water qual-
ity. When steep hillsides are clear-cut, landslides can result.
Finding ways to minimize these impacts is important, because
timber harvesting is necessary to obtain the wood products that
all of us use.

Forest management has evolved over time

For the past half-century, the U.S. Forest Service has nomi-
nally been guided by the policy of multiple use, meaning that
the national forests were to be managed for recreation, wildlife
habitat, mineral extraction, and various other uses. In practice,
timber production was often the primary use. In recent dec-
ades, as people became more aware of the impacts of log-
ging and as development spread across the landscape, citizens
began to urge that public forests be managed for recreation,
wildlife, and ecosystem integrity, as well as for timber. FIGURE 12.15 Ecosystem-based management is practiced in
In 1976 the U.S. Congress passed the National Forest Man- this longleaf pine forest in the southeastern United States.
agement Act. This act mandated that every national forest draw Foresters and biologists restore and nurture mature longleaf pine
up plans for renewable resource management based on the con- trees while burning and removing brush from the understory. This
cepts of multiple use and maximum sustainable yield and sub- habitat is home to a number of specialized species, including the
ject to public input under the National Environmental Policy endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.
Act (p. 192). Guidelines specified that these plans:

• Consider environmental factors as well as economic TABLE 12.1 Goals and Guidelines from the Hiawatha
ones, such that profit alone does not determine harvesting National Forest’s Management Plan
decisions. Timber harvesting
• Provide for diverse ecological communities and preserve • Harvest timber for the region’s mills at specified rotation
regional diversity of tree species. ages, then replant seedlings.
• Use clear-cutting, shelterwood, and selection systems,
• Ensure research and monitoring of management prac- according to location and tree type and in ways that simulate
tices. natural disturbances.
• Permit increases in harvest levels only if sustainable. • Manage a mix of even-aged and uneven-aged stands of
• Ensure that timber is extracted only where impacts have trees for timber and wildlife habitat.
been assessed; cuts are shaped to the terrain; maximum • Protect 52,000 acres of old-growth forest.
size limits are established; and cuts do not threaten timber Ecosystem management
regeneration or soil, watershed, fish, wildlife, recreation, • Restore 300 acres of wetlands and 9–13 miles of streams.
or aesthetic resources. • Conduct prescribed fire and remove brush on 1000 acres
per year.
Following passage of the National Forest Management • Minimize soil damage from logging.
Act, the U.S. Forest Service developed new programs to man- • Do not allow livestock grazing. CHAPTER 12 • FOREST S, FOREST MAN A GEMENT, AND PR O TECTED AREAS
age wildlife, non-game animals, and endangered species. It • Protect historic and archaeological sites, caves, ponds,
pushed for ecosystem-based management and ran ecological rivers, snags, water quality, and wilderness areas.
restoration programs to recover plant and animal commu- Fish and wildlife
nities that had been lost or degraded (FIGURE 12.15). Timber • Monitor fish and wildlife populations.
harvesting methods were brought more in line with ecosys- • Maintain habitats for threatened and endangered species
such as Kirtland’s warbler, lakeside daisy, and Canada lynx.
tem-based management goals. A set of approaches dubbed • Control invasive species, especially forest pests.
new forestry called for timber cuts that mimicked natural
disturbances. For instance, “sloppy clear-cuts” that leave a Recreation and other
•
Allow hiking, fishing, boating, snowmobiling, dog mushing,
variety of trees standing were intended to mimic the changes and more, but specify areas for recreation (e.g., no off-road
a forest might experience if hit by a severe windstorm. vehicles in some areas).
The Hiawatha National Forest provides an example of • Build no new roads; reconstruct 10 miles per year;
management under the National Forest Management Act. decommission 5 miles per year.
Headquartered in Escanaba, the Hiawatha National Forest • Acquire private land (inholdings) within wilderness areas
covers 360,000 ha (895,000 acres) in Michigan’s Upper when possible.
Peninsula. Its most recent management plan seeks a balance Adapted from USDA Forest Service, 2006. Hiawatha National Forest
of uses in the forest (TABLE 12.1). 2006 Forest Plan. 337

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