Cause Of Deforestation In The United States

The environment is a unique unit and incorporates all the living and non-living components such as plants, animals, streams and lakes. Deforestation refers to the long-term loss of tree canopy and the conversion of the land to other purposes. The overuse of resources and the industrialization process are some major causes of this phenomenon. This process goes on without check leading to soil erosion, floods, silting of irrigation canals, all of which degrade the environment.

In the United States (U.S), deforestation has caused the destruction of virgin forests by 90 percent since 1600. At the current rate of deforestation, only one-fourth of the forests standing today will be standing in 70 years. Deforestation in the United States is an ongoing

environmental issue that attracts protests from environmentalists.

Prior to the arrival of European-Americans, about one half of the United States land area was forest, about 4,000,000 square kilometers’ (990,000,000 acres) in 1600, yet today it is only about 3,000,000 square kilometers (740,000,000 acres). Nearly all of this deforestation took place prior to 1910, and the forest resources of the United States have remained relatively constant through the entire 20th century. Deforestation in the United States is affected by many factors. One such factor is the effect, whether positive or negative, that the logging industry has on forests in the country. As stated by the U.S Forest Service, logging is nearly impossible to stop and it is a hotly debated topic as groups who either support or oppose logging argue over its benefits and negative effects. Logging either with permits or without permits goes on throughout the U.S. Companies with permits disregard them and harvest beyond what is allowed. The Forest Service and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) work together to make sure that the permits for logging companies in the United States are granted in such a way that the forests are kept healthy and sustainable, and illegal logging reduces the chances that forests will be kept this way. Another way to help curb this

issue is Afforestation and re-afforestation. Afforestation is the planting of new trees to replace the cut ones whiles re-afforestation is planting of new trees on a bare land or on the land where there are no trees. These are not the best way of solving deforestation particularly because people plant trees without retaining to see whether they have germinated or it did not survive. When these trees are planted, periodic checks are not conducted to make sure these seeds germinate. This ignorant attitude of people therefore does not make this the most suitable solution even though a massive re-planting and planting effort would help to alleviate the problems deforestation caused. Therefore to ensure successful planting a law should be put in place to ensure whoever will be planting or replanting any trees will at least take care of it for one year, for the plant to reach a stage where it can survive of no great care is not given to it again.
Forests play a critical role in mitigating climate .It is essential to distinguish between micro climate, regional climate change and global climate while assessing the effects of forest on climate ( Guap et al,2005) especially the effects of tropical deforestation on climate (Dickson,1981).

Deforestation can change the global change of energy not only through the micrometeorological process but also increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide. In solving this issue ambitious domestic forest policies should be set by the government with latest science technology to be able to conduct experiment and research on possible solutions in order to save the forest. However, groups like NativeForest.org and EarthRoots.org would say taking an action like this would cost a lot of money being invested into this

activity.
On the other hand, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has been working to protect forests for more than 50 years. With a focus on protected areas, management, and sustainable forestry, WWF works with governments, companies, communities, and other stakeholders to promote certification for responsible forest management practices, combat illegal logging, reform trade policies, and protect forested areas. With this, companies can come together to ensure healthy forest management practices. Moreover, encouraging substitutes can be used as a way of solving deforestation in this context. For all purposes where tropical or other timber is used, other woods or material could be substituted. The use of timber can be stopped and urge others to do same. NativeForest.org states that as long as there is a market for wood products, trees will continue to be cut down but labelling schemes, aimed at helping consumers to choose environmental friendly timbers are currently being discussed in many countries(Anon,1910 d) and also ways to control the rate at which trees are cut . For instance quota can be used to regulate the cutting down of trees. A certain task force must be established to go round and check whoever found going contrary to this quota must be fined to pay huge sum of money or be prosecuted to prison so that it will serve as a deterrent to others to go contrary to the quota.

Balancing forest protection and economic growth not only requires political leadership, but also strong leadership from the corporate sector. That is why Greenpeace and hundreds of thousands of people in Indonesia and around the world who support forest protection are pushing companies to clean up their supply chains. When the companies show change and remove forest destruction from their supply chains, authorities will sit down with them and review their policies. However, the measure of success is how the policy is implemented. Putting forest protection into practice is not easy, but one problem that can arise is when the process comes under dispute and will say it would be expensive to clean up their chains and it takes time to enforce these policies. Companies can also introduce paper procurement policies that set ambitious targets to maximize use of recycled wood, pulp, paper and fiber in their products and ensure that any virgin fiber used is certified by a third party certification system such as the Forest Stewardship Council, but these corporations haven’t taken action on their own. That’s why investigating, exposing and confronting environmental abuse by corporations are ongoing. In addition thanks to these actions, major companies are changing their ways. Lastly, the disruption of Water Cycles should be considered. Trees play a key role in the local water cycle by helping to keep a balance between the water on land and water in the atmosphere. When deforestation or degradation occurs, the balance can be thrown off, resulting in changes in precipitation and river flow.
Additionally, many governments, organizations, and societies are making great strides in helping to reduce deforestation, and encourage forest plantations, but there is still a lot to do. Due to the extent and nature of forest destruction, efforts to stop deforestation and preserve them are best achieved at government and organization levels. This means that laws, rules, and regulations from countries can help to enforce the preservation of forests.