Forestry and Resource Management

11.3- Forest Management

Multiple Choice

A renewable resource is harvested sustainably if

• the amount of replacement is less than the amount harvested.

• the amount of replacement is equal to the amount harvested.

• soil erosion is prevented.

• replacing trees costs less than harvesting trees.

Multiple Choice

Renewable resources include soil, fresh water, wild animals, and

• minerals.

• coal.

• timber.

• petroleum.

Multiple Choice

The science or practice of planting, managing, and caring for forests.

• Forestry
• Silviculture
• Reforestation
• Deforestation

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is the goal of Ecosystem based forest management?

• To harvest resources while minimizing effects on the rest of the ecosystem

• To harvest maximum resources without compromising future harvests

• To gather data from areas managed in different ways, and develop a customized management plan based on the results

• To cut down all trees in a region, resulting in even-aged stands of regrowth

Multiple Choice

What long-term impact could the destruction of large areas of forests have on Earth?

• decreased rates of erosion

• increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels

• decreased amounts of acid rain

• increased atmospheric oxygen levels

Lesson Objectives

• Explain how logging is managed in U.S. national forests.

• Describe where most logging in the United States takes place.

• Discuss the potential effects of fire suppression on an ecosystem and on future fires

• Describe how consumer demand is important to sustainable forestry.

U.S. National Forests

• The National Forest System was established in 1905.

  • Done in response to a “timber famine”

• Originally set aside to grow trees for timber and to protect watersheds

• Today, managed by the U.S. Forest Service, for timber, recreation, wildlife habitat, and mining

National Forest Management Act (1976)

• Requires that renewable resource management plans be made for each national forest

• Plans are required to be consistent with the principles of multiple use and maximum sustainable yield.

  • Multiple-use Forest: forests must serve purposes other than timber harvesting (recreational, habitat, etc.)

• Logging has declined in national forests since passage of the Act, but policies are vulnerable to political influence.

Logging on Private Land

• Most logging in the U.S. takes place on privately owned tree plantations.

• A tree plantation is typically an even-aged monoculture with little habitat variety or biodiversity.

  • Monoculture: large-scale plantings of a single crop

• Many Plantations are switching to an uneven-aged model of harvesting

• The use of plantations for timber protects National Forests from being logged.

Multiple Choice

Act passed in 1976 by U.S. Congress that resulted in "new forestry" practices mimicking natural disturbances.

• Roadless Rule Act

• Endangered Species Act

• National Forest Management Act

• Old Growth Forest Act

• Antiquities Act

Drag and Drop

A large planting of a single crop is referred to as a

Placeholder

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

monoculture

polyculture

multiculture

timberculture

Multiple Select

The policy of multiple use requires that national forests be managed for

• timbers.

• wildlife habitat.

• recreation.

Forest Fires

• Fires can occur both naturally and due to human causes

• 1944: The United States Forest Council created the character of Smokey the Bear to help inform people about preventing forest fires

  • "Only you can prevent forest fires"

    • Has Since been changed to wildfires

Fire Policies-Fire Suppression

• Fire Suppression: Preventing the burning of a fire

  • Has Negative effects on ecosystems that depend on fire

    • Certain plants need fire to germinate

  • Over time, fuel for future fires accumulates (limbs, sticks, and leaf litter).

    • When fires do occur, they are worse

  • Suppressing small fires increases the likelihood of larger, dangerous fires

Fire Policies-Prescribed Burns

• Carefully controlled burning helps to reduce fuel buildup and to restore ecosystems.

• Rarely burn out of control, but occasional accidents frighten the public.

Healthy Forests Restorations Act (2003)

• Passed after the 2003 California Fires

  • Encourages prescribed burns

• Promotes salvage logging—removal of small trees, underbrush, and snags by timber companies

  • Seen as harmful by many scientists and environmental advocates

    • Slows Forest Regrowth and leads to more wildfires

    • Increases Erosion

    • Destroys snag habitats

  • Does little in unharvested forests, where people live

Sustainable Forestry Products

• Independent organizations certify that wood products are produced sustainably.

• Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has the strictest standards and most widely accepted certification process.

• Certified wood costs more to produce but will be supplied by timber companies if there is demand.

Multiple Choice

The Healthy Forest Restoration Act...

• Encourages Salvage logging and prescribed burns

• Requires Timber Companies to produces certified wood from national forest land

• Does not require environmental impact statements for logging on national land

• Requires adaptive Management on National Forest Land

Multiple Choice

True or False: Most logging in the United States takes place on public lands

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Salvage logging can

• decrease soil erosion

• decrease commercial logging

• promote wildfires

• speed up forest regrowth

Multiple Choice

When paper has a Forest Stewardship Council Log on it, the paper is

• Made from Rain Forest Wood

• Not Made from wood

• Made from sustainably harvested wood

• recycled

Multiple Choice

What is Smokey Bear's modern safety message?

• Only you can prevent wildfires

• Stay away from fires

• Fires can start anywhere.

• Fires are good for some habitats

Open Ended

Suppose you were building a new house and you want to use certified wood. A friend tries to discourage you saying that there is no such thing as truly "sustainably harvested wood". Write a paragraph (at least five sentences) response to your friend explaining what is true.