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December
1970
animal problems through the region,"
stated a study made by the U. S. Forest
Service, "and it appears that exploration
of hacvesting methods other than clear–
cutting may hold a key to prevention of
a large share of potential animal prob–
lems"
(Animal Dama¡:e lo Conifers
011
National ForeJJJ in the Pacific North–
west Region,
by Glenn
L.
Crouch,
U.S.D.A. Forest Service Resource Bulle–
tia PNW-28,
1969,
p.
9).
Here is an example of a serious prob–
lem created by the
profit-seeking prac–
tices
of man.
But not all species of wildlife multi–
ply when man mismanages the forest.
Many diminish.
For example, meo havc been told that
the forest will be more healthy if they
cut all dead standing trees. But the
majestic ivory-billed and pileated wood–
peckers of the Southern U. S. need dead
standing trees in order to propagate.
When our ancestors settled this land,
there were ample lightning-struck dead
trees to feed and house these elegant
and useful birds which in tum helped
keep living trees free of pests. But the
number of standing dead trees has been
so reduced that pileated woodpeckers
are now few in number. lvory-bills have
been reduced to probably no more than
half a dozea pairs that range over such
wide arcas from Texas to Florida to
North Carolina that they rarely manage
to settle clown and raise a brood.
Many want to save the ivory-bill, but
no one seems willing to be "old-fash–
ioned" enough to provide it dead trees
that supply food for its voracious
nestlings.
When to Cut a Tree
Experts, of course, are not ignorant
of proper harvesting methods. On the
contrary, there are
knoum
ha.rvesting
methods which actually
BENEFJT
the
forcst, tree growth, and the wildlife too.
For example, once a tree has reached a
certain age of maturity, it no longer
produces more oxygen than it uses.
That's the time to harvest such a tree,
bcfore it becomes sick and weak, and
insccts attack and destroy it.
"Harvesting trees as they mature here
and there throughout the woods instead
of cutting the whole lot at one time is
especial/y valuable to wildlife,"
says the
The
PLAlN TRUTH
U. S. Department of Agriculture Year–
book for 1949 on
Trees,
page 562.
Experience is a dear teacher, but not
always the best one.
Take the case of the .fisher, an
important predatory animal originally
found in the Pacific Northwest. This
animal requires old-growth, virgin-forest
conditions in which to live. When
the lands were cut, the fishers left or
died out. Thus the natural enemy of the
porcupine disappeared from regions
23
like wildfire, and man will suffer heavy
kickbacks."
And this is exactJy wbat is happening
today. Timber growers are planting
pines and other softwoods, for quick
growth returns, without regard to
ecology. Toxic chemicals are being used
to kili insects and plant species not
desired. The soil is bcing raped for all
it's worth. Valuable nutrients are not
being returned to the
soil.
The balance
of nature is being destroyed.
Ambossador Collogo
Photo
Young Oouglas Fir trees grow in rows on a tree farm in Oregon. Even under
constant irrigation, these trees grow only a few inches per year. later they
will be transplanted.
where man used wrong trapping and
logging practices. Result?
Today the porcupine has become a
major problem to reforestation projects.
When man destroys tbe natural
ecological balance, as he has done every–
where he has gone,
he
suffers the
consequences.
"When man comes into an area
and destroys the balance of nature,"
observed a Wyoming state beaver trap–
per, "then
man
iJ
forced to manage
natm•e.
Otherwise, animal populations
will fluctuate wildly, disease will spread
Meanwhile, other forested areas are
being weakencd by automobile-created
smog.
One example is the San Ber–
nardino National Forest of California.
Smog Spells Death
Here smog from the Los Angeles
basin drifts over
L61,000
acres of conif–
erous forest, rendering the majority of
trees unhealthy and subject to attack by
insects and disease.
A total of nearly 1.3 million trees are
(Text contimred on page
26 -
photoJ on pages 24 and 25)