Wise Forest Management Quotations That Fuel Our Mission

"Environmentalism increasingly reflects urban perspectives. As people move to cities, they become infatuated with fantasies of land untouched by humans. This demographic shift is revealed through ongoing debates over endangered species, grazing, water rights, private property, mining and logging. And it is partly a healthy trend. But this urbanization of environmental values also signals the loss of a rural way of life and the disappearance of hands-on experience with nature. So the irony: as popular concern for preservation increases, public understanding about how to achieve it declines."

Dr. Alston Chase, syndicated columnist and lecturer; author of "Playing God in Yellowstone" and "In A Dark Wood"

"The assertion is often made that today's western forest health problems are the result of the aggressive fire suppression activities initiated by the Forest Service and other federal agencies in the 1930s, coupled with the extensive harvest of western pine forests after World War II. While there is some truth to these assertions, they tell only a partial story. A substantial reduction in ecosystem fire had already occurred over much of the West by the late 1880s or even before. It coincided with the disintegration of the cultures of native peoples in the area, virtually all of whom actively used fire as a major land management tool. [Other factors included] settlement of western valley areas and, especially, with increased livestock grazing which broke up fuel continuity.

Douglas MacCleery, USFS, "The Way to a Healthy Future for National Forest Ecosystems in the West," Evergreen, Winter 2000

"Some people believe America’s ancient forests were ordered, self-regulating and stable features of the landscape. Contrary to this myth, the species that made up an ancient forest came together only for a short time before becoming extinct or moving on when conditions changed. The shifting, sorting, extinction and evolution of species constantly created new forests with different assemblages of plants and animals. Nature’s clearcuts (fires, windstorms, diseases and insect infestations) played an important role in producing the chaos and ceaseless change that characterized the ancient forests." 

Dr. Tom Bonnicksen, Forest Ecologist and noted author, Texas A&M University

"A nation that consumes more than it produces is exporting its environmental impacts to other nations that provide what is consumed. It is like shipping your garbage to another town that needs the money and is willing to put up with the stench. Most of the raw materials consumed by the industrialized world - including the United States - come from impoverished countries that lack the money, technology and political will needed to regulate their own extractive industries. In the emerging global economy, nations should be increasing, not decreasing, their dependency on wood fiber because wood is renewable, recyclable, biodegradable and far more energy efficient in its manufacture and use than are products made from steel, aluminum, plastic or concrete. Furthermore, growing forests and the lumber they provide store large amounts of carbon dioxide that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere, adding to the potential for global warming."

Dr. James Bowyer, Director, Forest Products Management Development Institute, University of Minnesota