Logging in the United States

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Logging in the United States

Logging in the United States is a very controversial subject. Many people have different opinions on how we should take care of our forests and sometimes the arguments can get heated. Logging needs to be done to protect small western communities from catastrophic wild fires. Logging also gives small communities a way of income. When people think of logging they think of clear cutting which is damaging to the environment, but clear cutting does not happen too much on the national forests. The Forest Service has strict guidelines in which they follow to make sure the forest will stay healthy for years to come. Logging must be done with wildlife, human effects of the forest, and the health of the forest in mind. Logging can ultimately liberate small towns in the forest from fire danger and liberate the towns from having to depend on surrounding communities for a way of income. The forest and animals are also liberated from dense forest which can suffocate animals and plants. The animals are provided with more food with grasses after logging has accrued. Logging if done right is great for the forest and towns that are in the middle of the woods.

The history of logging goes back to the vast ponderosa pine forests of the southern Colorado Plateau in the 1870’s and 1880’s with the harvest of railroad ties and other products for construction of the transcontinental railroad. At first, the companies only wanted the big, high-grade ponderosa pine trees. They soon realized that the big trees run out and are hard to transport. In the 1920’s, new technology including chainsaws, bulldozers, and logging trucks allowed the logging companies to harvest at a much greater rate. By the depression, there were m...

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... Moir, Will. Logging, 2002.

Land Use History of North America.

<http://www.cpluhna.nau.edu/Biota/ponderosafire.htm>

4. Moir, Will. “Mogollon Rim, Arizona”

“National Forest Protection and Restoration Act”

<http://www.theorator.com/bills108/hr2169.html>

5. Johnsgard. North American Owls. Smithsonian pbk, 1982.

6. Maclean, John. Fire and ashes. Henrey holt and company, 2004.

7. Thybony, Scott. Wildfire. Western National Parks Association, 2002.

8. Pyne, Stephen. Tending Fire. Island press, 2004. CRS Report for Congress.

9. .Mexican Spotted Owls: Federal Protection. June 30, 1993, 93-620 ENR

10. Rodeo-Chediski fire Intensity. Map. 7 July. 2002. 20 Mar. 2005

11. Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest Logging and burning. Map. 13 July. 2002. 20 Mar. 2005

12. Reisner, Dave. Personal Interview. 20 March 2005

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