Rachel Halladay

Nov. 29, 1999

Argumentative Essay

As long as humans have lived in forested areas, they have cut down trees for lumber and/or to clear space for agricultural purposes. However, this practice has resulted in the destruction and near extinction of our national forests. Today, fewer than five percent of our country's original forests remain (Thirteen) and the U.S. Forest Service continues to allow more than 136,000 square miles to be logged each year (Byrant). Even more alarming, is the fact that only twenty percent of the current public forest lands are permanently protected by law, leaving nearly eighty percent to be consumed by chainsaws and bulldozers (Heritage...).

National forests, or the sections of land set aside by the government for public use, were first established in 1891. It wasn't until June 4, 1897, however, that the first logging operations were permitted (Ending...). Since then, approximately forty million acres of national forest have been destroyed (Thirteen). According to Dominick DellaSala, the Director of U.S. Conservation Programs, "The United States currently has one of the poorest forest protection standards of any developed nation on Earth" (Wildlands...). For a good part of this century, our national forests have been heavily logged, mined and exploited for the good of corporate America, destroying much of our worlds delicate forest ecosystems. There is absolutely no justification economically, nor ecologically to allow logging operations to continue in our national forests (Thirteen...).

Logging not only destroys trees, it also wrecks havoc on fish and wildlife habitats. Logging clouds streams with sedimentation, smothers spawning beds and raises water temperatures by removing the shade provided by the tree canopy (Thirteen...). Old-growth forests are also important to many animals because they provide an essential habitat, away from human's pollution and noise. Forests are a vital part of our worlds ecosystem. The trees provide us with oxygen through photosynthesis, eliminate potentially harmful carbon dioxide from the air and help to lower the atmospheric temperature. The layers of organic matter on the forest floor work with other organisms such as fungi, microorganisms, and natural humus to release important nutrients into the soil and forest plants act as a major source of medicines (Brownstone p.34). Our national forests provide more than half of our nation's remaining wildlife habitats (Thirteen...), including those of several endangered species such as the wolf, the grizzly bear and the salmon (Prig...). According to Dominick DellaSala, our nations forests contain "the highest levels of biodiversity anywhere in the temperate world" (Wildlands...). National forests also provide us with an abundance of natural resources, as well as clean drinking water to 1,000 communities nationwide (Prig...). Despite all these contributions, however, we continue to allow commercial logging companies to ravage and destroy millions of acres of old-growth forest annually.

Advocates for logging often point out the fact that tree farms are being planted in place of the ruined forests. The fact remains, that tree farms cannot take the place of, nor provide as much for us as the nations old-growth forests. "A tree farm is not a forest", according to Virginia Warner Brodine, author of "Protecting Forests Also Protects Logging Jobs", "it has rows of a single species [of trees], undergrowth is kept down with herbicides, and pests are killed with pesticides." Forest ecosystems take hundreds of years to form, but only hours to destroy.

Scientific studies over the past twenty-five years show that clearcutting quadruples the number of dangerous landslides (Fact...). Forests prevent soil erosion, landslides and flooding by stabilizing the soil with undergrowth and acting as a barrier for large amounts of water. The tree's canopy prevents excess water run-off while the roots work to absorb excess water that would otherwise cause flooding (Brownstone p.134). "The severe flooding in the Northwest in 1996 was caused in substantial part by logging" (Ending...). Furthermore, forests provide cool, dark shade, which prevents outbreaks or uncontrolled fires. Advocates for logging say that cutting the trees makes for new, healthier forests and less fire danger by clearing out the dead trees. This is false. A recent study, conducted in the Sierra Nevada forests, found that "more than any other human activity, logging has increased the risk and severity of fires by removing the cooling shade and leaving flammable debris" (Ending...). Over the years, the Forest Service has come up with alternative ways to encourage healthier forests. Controlled fires, selective logging, or cut to length logging, using newly developed machines and techniques, also help to establish healthier forests without the devastating effects of clearcut logging.

"One in every two trees cut in this country from private and public lands is wasted through inefficient utilization and lack of recycling" (Thirteen...). This means that of the 136,000 square miles of national forests being logged each year, only half will be properly utilized by the American people. According to the U.S. Forest Service, approximately fifty-seven percent of the timber used in the U.S. is made into shipping pallets (Ending...). These pallets are often used only once before they end up in the city dump. In fact, over half the volume of our nations landfills are composed of unrecycled wood and paper fiber (Thirteen...). Advocates for logging argue that we need to log in order to satisfy our nation's building needs as well as our enormous demand for paper. There are, however, a number of alternatives for both paper making and construction materials. Straw, bamboo, hemp, and kenaf are all alternative sources of paper, while brick, stucco, metal and plastic are all serving as substitutes for the standard 2X4 board (Thirteen...). In 1996, as little as 3.9 percent of the U.S. lumber needs were satisfied with wood from the national forests (Voss). By simply reducing our paper and lumber consumption, using alternative methods, and recycling, we could easily eliminate that 3.9 percent, and end logging on the national forests entirely. A quote printed in the October 17th issue of the Minneapolis Star Tribune sums it up by saying, "The nation is likely to run out of wilderness long before it runs out of pulp and lumber" (Protect...).

Road building is an essential part of the logging process. However, roads are also proven to have devastating effects on water quality and fish habitats, because of the large amounts of soil erosion and sedimentation they produce. Roads are also harmful to animals such as the grizzly bear, wolf and other wide-ranging predators who depend on the remote landscapes and undisturbed forests for their homes (Protection...). In fact, "Roads are the number-one threat to forest health", according to an article entitled, "Forest Service Issues Road Moratorium" in The Environmental News Network. Despite the negative effects road building has on animal habitats and streams, the U.S. Forest Service continues to allow millions of acres to be lost to new roads annually. In fact, the Forest Service has built approximately 440,000 miles of new roads - "enough to circle the planet seventeen times" (Prig...) and they are planning to build or rebuild more than 500,000 miles of forest road in order to expedite more logging (Byrant). Two-thirds of the Forest Service jobs today are devoted primarily to the planning and building of new roads (Byrant). In January of 1999, the Forest Service finally caved in to the strong protests from environmental groups and issued a temporary agreement to halt any new road construction on public lands (Byrant). The problem with this moratorium is the fact that 15 million acres in Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, Northern California and eleven additional forests do not have any protection under the new agreement (Byrant). This road epidemic must end before the last virgin forests are discovered and destroyed. Dan Beard, of the National Audubon Society, states, "There no longer should be any doubt that protecting roadless national forest areas is good policy and good politics" (Americans...).

With the recent swell in forest protection interests, many loggers are wondering what will happen to jobs. A study, done in 1995, by a group of Northwesterneconomists, confirms that employment is actually up by 940,000 in the Pacific Northwest (a prominent logging area) and earnings have risen nearly twenty-four percent (Ending...). Loggers do have a cause to worry, however, according to the article "Protecting Forests Also Protects Logging Jobs" written by Virginia Warner Brodine. The drive to maximize short-term profits, coupled with the constant neglect of our national forests, is leading to the destruction of jobs in the logging industry. By continuing to clearcut without regard to the land, loggers are destroying not only the valuable old-growth forests, but also the future prospects for the industry and the workers it employs. Although timber companies are quick to lay the blame of fewer logging jobs on the environmental groups, it is actually the loggers who are destroying the jobs, by cutting the forests as if they were endless (Brodine p.130). If the forests had been properly managed and replanted in the beginning, there wouldn't be quite as much irreparable damage, or heated controversy over the remaining old-growth forests today.

By drastically slowing, or ending logging practices altogether, the industry could preserve jobs for future generations. Even if the government were to end all commercial logging on public lands and instead focus their attention and the current logging subsidies on ecological restoration, they could continue to employ all of the current timber workers at a salary increase, as well as create additional jobs restoring and managing the forests. Furthermore, according to the Forest Service, "recreation, hunting and fishing on national forests create thirty-two times more jobs than logging on national forests" (Ending...). By ending logging on public lands, the government could actually increase the number of jobs in the economy.

Many people, as well as economists, fear that ending logging on public lands will have a negative effect on our nation's economy. What many don't know, is the public lands logging program "is a severe money loser" (Ending...). Most taxpayers are also unaware of the fact that it is them, not the timber companies, who pay for such things as road construction, the planning and actual act of logging, market research, restoration and clean-up and the replanting of trees (Ending...). The average yearly cost comes out to eight hundred and sixty-four million dollars. This is an astonishing amount considering the Forest Service returns less than one hundred million dollars to the Federal Treasury, amounting to a loss of more than seven hundred and sixty-four million in tax money annually (Ending...). Road construction alone costs over two hundred million a year (Pirg...). What's more, according to the Forest Service, such activities as hunting, fishing and recreation, account for thirty-seven times more revenue than logging (Ending...). The timber cut on national forests is often sold at a huge financial loss. For example, the Forest Service charges a mere two dollars for a six hundred year old Sitka Spruce tree from Alaska's Tongas National Forest; the ancient trees are then taken to a paper mill and chopped into pulp (Byrant). Putting an end to logging in our national forests, would help to lower the government deficit, lower taxes and better our economic efficiency.

Remember, public lands belong to all American's, not just the logging corporations. If logging continues at the current rate, there will soon be nothing left for future generations. America's last remaining forests should be a refuge for the grizzly bear, the salmon, clear streams, ancient trees, and above all, the great outdoors man.

Bibliography

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Brodine, Virginia Warner. "Protecting Forests Also Protects Logging Jobs". The Enviroment:Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego:Greenhaven Press, 1996. pp. 129-133.

Brownstone, David and Franck, Irene. The Green Encyclopedia. New York: Prentice Hall, 1992. pp. 134.

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Voss, Rene. "After 100 years, Commercial Logging of our National Forests Should End". [http://www.ezl.com/ppg/after100.htm] November 10, 1999.

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