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Logging is
8/G
BUSINESS
-
29 billion dollars yearly in the
U.
S.
alone . Wood and paper are among the most used
products in the world today. But can our forests continue to
supply such burgeoning needs indefinitely? And what is
happening to our forest ecology?
by
Jerry Gentry
T
HE SAHARA
was once a lush pas–
tureland with occasional forests.
Egypt was once the breadbasket
of the Roman Empire. North Africa,
replete with forests, rivers and lakes,
supplied the Roman games, sometimes
at the rate of 1000 large animals
each
day.
Today, most of North Afr ica is
desert.
Can We Learn the Lesson?
The once-great empires - Egypt,
Babylon, Persia, China, Greece, Rome
- today lie within either great desert
belts or depleted arcas. They no longer
cnjoy their former powcr and glory. We
need to understand
WHY!
It's significant that
ALL thne
empires
once straddled Jand that was
rich,
productive, replete with lakes,
rivers, streams.
All
had abundant for·
ests. Today much of the domain of
thcse ancient kingdoms líes in ruin, the
forests gone, the soil depleted, sorne–
times unable to support life.
Wbat caused the destruction and
depletion of these lands?
Records show that these nations were
warned, but ignored the warning. The
famous Socrates, for example, warned
Greece of what would happen if she
Ambossodor Colle9e
Photo
deforested and overgrazed her moun–
tains. But Greece ignored bis advice.
History bears out a de6nite con–
nection between
depletio1l
and
down–
falt,
and the United States in particular
has cause for concern. America, also,
was warned, as early as the 1790's, that
deforestation in New England was dry–
ing up streams and deteriorating the
climatc.
Deforestation
in
America
The deforestation and depletion of
farmland in the United States ts
occurring rapidly and violently - a
repetition of the disastrous mistakes
made by previous world-ruling empires.
In 300 years America has destroyed her
heritage to a degree which took many
times longer in other countries. Other
empires have destroyed themselves by
hand. America speeded up the process
with machinery. When forests are cut,
topsoil is eroded into the rivers.
Take one example -
the Mis–
sissippi River.
It
pours out
ONE CUBIC