Resources for Government and Forestry

A Guide to Government and Forestry

In the rapidly expanding industrial age, forests – both as economic resources and as prized environmental features of the landscape – are constantly under siege by developers looking to exploit their potential as quickly and as profitably as possible.  In response, citizens’ groups often lobby their governments to enact various protections and regulations for the maintenance of those forests, and push for the exploitation of their riches for educational and cultural purposes rather than economic ones.  Let’s consider the relationship between government and forestry in more detail.

The Americas are characterized by massive forest reserves, some dating back millennia.  However, since the colonial era, most of the old growth forests have been completely depleted, and the rest are often threatened with the same.  Governments have responded with wildlife preservation reserves and national parks, ranging from the very large – Yosemite National Park is over 760,000 acres – to the intimate rain forest sanctuaries of Costa Rica.

The United States government maintains 155 national forests which encompass over a hundred million acres.  The U.S. Forest Service oversees sophisticated environmental protection measures, including special investigators charged with looking into violations or crimes committed within the parks.  They employ over thirty thousand workers and operate in all 50 states, with an annual operations budget of $5.8 billion.

The most important effort of the Forestry Service is fire prevention and containment.  Almost half of their budget goes to fighting fires, and educational services attempt to ward off the threat of human-caused fires in national forests.  On an everyday basis, the agency seeks to strike a balance between all relevant factors, including economic development, preservation, and recreation.  Their mission statement specifies that future generations must be considered in their operations, allowing for a sustainable approach to forest management.

Other countries’ forestry policies vary considerably.  American manufacturers often use wood from Indonesia, for example, since their deforestation regulations are more lax, and savings can passed on to the consumer, leading to higher volume and bigger profits for shareholders.  This practice has come under fire from international environmental groups, who view it as an uncontained externality wreaking havoc on the ecosystem of the host lands and leading to global trauma to the planet from unchecked greenhouse gas emissions.

Comprehensive integration of forestry into the broader social and economic landscape is still in its infancy, but seems likely to become more sophisticated over time.