Forests into Condos
Mar. 27th, 2006 01:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chelidonNothing hugely surprising here, but a decent article, focusing also on the positive responses to changes in forest ownership -- including local community, government and conservation organization purchase of woodlands. It is perhaps somewhat ironic that a large part of the solution to saving forests from being chopped into lots for development may come from managed logging.
Timberlands in Turmoil
America's timberlands are in turmoil. From the remote backwoods to groves near small towns, forests are shrinking: 35 acres here, 500 there. The decline is so incremental it masks a crisis. Viewed from a national perspective, however, the pace of the losses is staggering:
The United States loses 1 million acres of forests annually, an area larger than all of Rhode Island, according to the U.S. Forest Service's Forests on the Edge: Housing Development on America's Private Forests, which also reports:
13 million acres lost since 1992, almost the size of West Virginia.
23 million acres gone by 2050, an area larger than all of Maine.
The culprit is clear. America's timberlands are being converted to development.
Timberlands in Turmoil
America's timberlands are in turmoil. From the remote backwoods to groves near small towns, forests are shrinking: 35 acres here, 500 there. The decline is so incremental it masks a crisis. Viewed from a national perspective, however, the pace of the losses is staggering:
The United States loses 1 million acres of forests annually, an area larger than all of Rhode Island, according to the U.S. Forest Service's Forests on the Edge: Housing Development on America's Private Forests, which also reports:
13 million acres lost since 1992, almost the size of West Virginia.
23 million acres gone by 2050, an area larger than all of Maine.
The culprit is clear. America's timberlands are being converted to development.
