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6/6/2007
Surprising Findings in Landmark Study of Renewal and Re-growth
America’s forestland acreage has remained virtually the same over the past 100 years, according to a landmark new study released by the Society of American Foresters (SAF).
During the past 20 years, the forestland has actually increased by more than 10 million acres.
The combination of replanting and reforestation efforts, as well as natural forest re-growth has generally offset any loss of forestland due to urban/suburban growth. The amount of farmland needed to produce food has decreased because of technological advances, thus allowing forestland to regenerate.
These positive trends will continue the report states. “Most encouraging of all, perhaps, is not what has already been accomplished, but what is likely to be achieved by forestry and natural resources professionals in the future,” the study concludes.
Former USDA Forest Chief Dale Bosworth wrote the report’s introduction and notes, “There is much good news to be shared about America’s forests, particularly in regard to their abundance, the ecological services and recreational services they offer, the raw materials they provide, and the successful initiatives to sustain them.”
The SAF report is a comprehensive, peer-reviewed analysis of a wide variety of data regarding forestland in the US from a broad range of sources, including the US Forest Service and the US Fish & Wildlife Service. The report was authored by forestry expert Mila Alvarez, a professor at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute’s College of Natural Resources and principal of Solutions for Nature, a natural resources management-consulting firm.
The conclusions arrived at in this report are also supported by similar results in reports by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization report that came out in March and by the US National Academy of Sciences, whose report was released in November of 2006.
The State of America’s Forests Report shows that forests “represent one of the greatest renewable resources and provide vital ecosystem values, products, services, and conditions. When forests are managed in a sustainable manner, forest production can commonly meet the landowner’s economic objectives while also protecting the environment.” While the report notes that America’s forest face significant challenges – such as fire, insects and disease, invasive weeds, unmanaged recreation and land conversions – it documents a variety of reasons to be optimistic about our nations forestland:
¨ Annual net growth of US forests is 36% higher than the volume of annual tree removals.
¨ The stability and abundance of forestland has helped many animal species thrive.
¨ Historical tends indicate that the standing inventory (volume of growing trees) of hardwood and softwood tree species in US forests increased by 49% between 1953 and 2006
¨ Certification of sustainable forest management continues to grow. The three major certification systems (Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Forest Stewardship Council and American Tree Farm System) together certify more than 107 million acres, representing 14% of total US forests and 25% of private US forestland.
¨ Sustainable forest management is contributing to carbon sequestration and storage.
The Society of American Foresters is a national non-profit scientific and educational organization and the largest professional society for foresters in the world. SAF’s mission is to advance the science, education, technology, and practice of forestry and to ensure the continued health and use of forest ecosystems and the present and future availability of forest resources to benefit society.
The report is available for viewing or downloading at http://www.safnet.org/aboutforestry/index.cfm.
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