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THE PINELANDS AND FORESTRY - A FORESTER'S VIEW
Date: 040621
From: http://www.pinelandsalliance.org
Inside the Pinelands, June/July 2004
PPA invited Bob Williams to write for our newsletter explaining his
perspective on forestry in the Pinelands. Bob is the preeminent
consulting forester in this region, and he knows the Pinelands very
well from his many years of work here. As you will see, Bob believes
that forestry can be done in a way that is compatible with preserving
our native Pine Barrens forests. While PPA does not always agree with
Bob about how to carry out and regulate compatible forestry in the
Pinelands, we respect his expertise and his love for the land. We also
believe we can find common ground through dialogue. So we think it
makes sense for our readers to hear his perspectives on this critical
issue.
- - -
My interest in forestry began 47 years ago when my father began to
take me to his deer club in Chatsworth, New Jersey. I would be allowed
to play in the saw dust pile at the cedar mill off the end of Victor
Avenue. I also was given the job of bagging cedar shavings that were
used as bedding for our hunting dogs. Ever since, I've always been
interested in the Pinelands Forest and its uses.
Today, if the mill owner wished to rebuild that sawmill, there would
likely be significant opposition to the mill, as well as accusations
that the return of the mill would result in the destruction of our
white cedar forest resources. The general anti-timber harvesting
attitude of the public, bureaucratic red tape and misunderstood
forestry regulations have meant that Paul Schaier, a third generation
operator of our last remaining cedar mill, and I cannot secure enough
white cedar logs to manufacture the cedar shake shingles needed to
shingle the roof of the new interpretive center at Batsto Village. As
a result, the center will be roofed with non-native western red cedar.
Situations like this are an insult to the idea of the Pinelands
National Reserve and its purpose to protect and perpetuate our
cultural, historical and natural resources in this region.
As a professional forester, I'm often asked to explain why we harvest
trees in the Pinelands. Usually, this question is asked by someone who
is convinced that cutting trees is bad and must be having a negative
impact on the Pinelands region. Nothing could be further from the
truth.
Since European settlement some 300 years ago, the forests have been
harvested repeatedly for an ever-changing forest products industry.
It's only been in the past twenty-five years that industry timber
harvesting has not been a common practice in the Pinelands region.
Today, the steep decline in forestry as a viable use of the land
continues.
Since the inception of the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan
(CMP), forestry has typically been discussed in a negative light. At
present, the Pinelands Commission has appointed a new Forest Advisory
Committee to address some concerns about forestry activities. Again,
the discussion of forestry is undertaken with a negative connotation
as the backdrop. Nevertheless, this is a most appropriate time to
discuss forestry in the interest of the well-being of the Pinelands'
forest resources and the commercial forestry interests in the region.
Both are in trouble, and both need to be better understood by people
who care about the Pinelands if either are going to survive the way
the CMP intended them to.
What we see on the landscape today probably bears little resemblance
to what was here in pre-settlement times. Timber that was here at that
time was of a much superior quality and size, and there was likely a
higher percentage of early successional ecosystems fostered by the
severe natural disturbance of wildfire. The natural cycle of
disturbance and succession promotes diversity of plants and animals.
Three hundred years of intensive cutting and excessive wildland fires
have dramatically changed the landscape that we see today. Along with
these factors, the aggressive exclusion of fire from a highly fire-
adapted ecosystem over the last fifty years or so has created a
situation that now threatens the very unique biodiversity we so
zealously wish to protect. We are literally preserving the Pinelands
to death. As if that isn't enough of a problem, we have also created a
wildland fire hazard that poses the threat of catastrophic fires that
will result in significant loss of life, property and biodiversity
itself.
The Pineland's CMP Preamble warned of all this. It recommended the
need to continue to have severe disturbances to the forest, the
control of hardwood in the pine forests, and the need to avoid
prescribed burning programs that result in open, park-like forests.
The CMP also recognized the need to encourage forestry because it is
the only land use option that is compatible with the long term goals
of the CMP. We have done none of this, and it's time to begin to
change people's viewpoint of forestry. Forestry offers an economic use
that is compatible with environmental protection goals. This is indeed
a rare situation in human endeavors and we have largely ignored the
economic benefits of forestry.
A Pinelands forestry program offers an opportunity to enhance, create
or protect the unique biodiversity here, while at the same time
mitigating the dangerous wildfire hazard that threatens the public's
health and safety. Understand, you cannot preserve a forest. It will
change with time. That is nature's way. But with thoughtful
management, which includes forestry, you can preserve a dynamic forest
system.
In fact, it was a group of foresters who in 1894 began the first
discussions and efforts to protect this area from development and to
perpetuate its natural resources for future generations. As a forester
in 2004, I feel as though I should follow through on what those
foresters started 120 years ago.
I view myself as an environmentalist, but I don't believe most
environmentalists view me as such. It's easy to be against things,
i.e., to oppose a development, a golf course or any land use action.
It's easy to buy land and simply preserve it. The people of New Jersey
should understand that they cannot expect to halt timber harvesting in
forests in our state while continuing to consume increasing amounts of
forest products. That merely exports timber harvesting to other
regions, or worse, to other countries where forest management is not
as well regulated and managed by professional resource managers. We
all must take responsibility when it comes to the stewardship of our
forest lands. I know that it's difficult for environmentalists to
support or advocate forestry, simply because of the nature of it -
cutting trees. But I believe that with a better understanding of the
positive role forestry can play in the Pinelands, all us
environmentalists can come together and support truly compatible
forestry here.
Trees are the answer to so many of our environmental problems. They
clean our air, water, and soil, provide habitat and beauty as well as
our planet's most useful renewable natural resource - wood fiber. They
are the ultimate solar energy producers. I will continue to look for
the environmentalist who is for forestry. If you meet one, please have
them get in touch with me to talk more about this critical issue.
* * *
Pinelands Preservation Alliance
Bishop Farmstead
17 Pemberton Rd
Southhampton NJ 08088
T: 609-859-8860
F: 609-859-8804
E: ppa@pinelandsalliance.org
W: http://www.pinelandsalliance.org
Date: 040621
From: http://www.pinelandsalliance.org
Inside the Pinelands, June/July 2004
PPA invited Bob Williams to write for our newsletter explaining his
perspective on forestry in the Pinelands. Bob is the preeminent
consulting forester in this region, and he knows the Pinelands very
well from his many years of work here. As you will see, Bob believes
that forestry can be done in a way that is compatible with preserving
our native Pine Barrens forests. While PPA does not always agree with
Bob about how to carry out and regulate compatible forestry in the
Pinelands, we respect his expertise and his love for the land. We also
believe we can find common ground through dialogue. So we think it
makes sense for our readers to hear his perspectives on this critical
issue.
- - -
My interest in forestry began 47 years ago when my father began to
take me to his deer club in Chatsworth, New Jersey. I would be allowed
to play in the saw dust pile at the cedar mill off the end of Victor
Avenue. I also was given the job of bagging cedar shavings that were
used as bedding for our hunting dogs. Ever since, I've always been
interested in the Pinelands Forest and its uses.
Today, if the mill owner wished to rebuild that sawmill, there would
likely be significant opposition to the mill, as well as accusations
that the return of the mill would result in the destruction of our
white cedar forest resources. The general anti-timber harvesting
attitude of the public, bureaucratic red tape and misunderstood
forestry regulations have meant that Paul Schaier, a third generation
operator of our last remaining cedar mill, and I cannot secure enough
white cedar logs to manufacture the cedar shake shingles needed to
shingle the roof of the new interpretive center at Batsto Village. As
a result, the center will be roofed with non-native western red cedar.
Situations like this are an insult to the idea of the Pinelands
National Reserve and its purpose to protect and perpetuate our
cultural, historical and natural resources in this region.
As a professional forester, I'm often asked to explain why we harvest
trees in the Pinelands. Usually, this question is asked by someone who
is convinced that cutting trees is bad and must be having a negative
impact on the Pinelands region. Nothing could be further from the
truth.
Since European settlement some 300 years ago, the forests have been
harvested repeatedly for an ever-changing forest products industry.
It's only been in the past twenty-five years that industry timber
harvesting has not been a common practice in the Pinelands region.
Today, the steep decline in forestry as a viable use of the land
continues.
Since the inception of the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan
(CMP), forestry has typically been discussed in a negative light. At
present, the Pinelands Commission has appointed a new Forest Advisory
Committee to address some concerns about forestry activities. Again,
the discussion of forestry is undertaken with a negative connotation
as the backdrop. Nevertheless, this is a most appropriate time to
discuss forestry in the interest of the well-being of the Pinelands'
forest resources and the commercial forestry interests in the region.
Both are in trouble, and both need to be better understood by people
who care about the Pinelands if either are going to survive the way
the CMP intended them to.
What we see on the landscape today probably bears little resemblance
to what was here in pre-settlement times. Timber that was here at that
time was of a much superior quality and size, and there was likely a
higher percentage of early successional ecosystems fostered by the
severe natural disturbance of wildfire. The natural cycle of
disturbance and succession promotes diversity of plants and animals.
Three hundred years of intensive cutting and excessive wildland fires
have dramatically changed the landscape that we see today. Along with
these factors, the aggressive exclusion of fire from a highly fire-
adapted ecosystem over the last fifty years or so has created a
situation that now threatens the very unique biodiversity we so
zealously wish to protect. We are literally preserving the Pinelands
to death. As if that isn't enough of a problem, we have also created a
wildland fire hazard that poses the threat of catastrophic fires that
will result in significant loss of life, property and biodiversity
itself.
The Pineland's CMP Preamble warned of all this. It recommended the
need to continue to have severe disturbances to the forest, the
control of hardwood in the pine forests, and the need to avoid
prescribed burning programs that result in open, park-like forests.
The CMP also recognized the need to encourage forestry because it is
the only land use option that is compatible with the long term goals
of the CMP. We have done none of this, and it's time to begin to
change people's viewpoint of forestry. Forestry offers an economic use
that is compatible with environmental protection goals. This is indeed
a rare situation in human endeavors and we have largely ignored the
economic benefits of forestry.
A Pinelands forestry program offers an opportunity to enhance, create
or protect the unique biodiversity here, while at the same time
mitigating the dangerous wildfire hazard that threatens the public's
health and safety. Understand, you cannot preserve a forest. It will
change with time. That is nature's way. But with thoughtful
management, which includes forestry, you can preserve a dynamic forest
system.
In fact, it was a group of foresters who in 1894 began the first
discussions and efforts to protect this area from development and to
perpetuate its natural resources for future generations. As a forester
in 2004, I feel as though I should follow through on what those
foresters started 120 years ago.
I view myself as an environmentalist, but I don't believe most
environmentalists view me as such. It's easy to be against things,
i.e., to oppose a development, a golf course or any land use action.
It's easy to buy land and simply preserve it. The people of New Jersey
should understand that they cannot expect to halt timber harvesting in
forests in our state while continuing to consume increasing amounts of
forest products. That merely exports timber harvesting to other
regions, or worse, to other countries where forest management is not
as well regulated and managed by professional resource managers. We
all must take responsibility when it comes to the stewardship of our
forest lands. I know that it's difficult for environmentalists to
support or advocate forestry, simply because of the nature of it -
cutting trees. But I believe that with a better understanding of the
positive role forestry can play in the Pinelands, all us
environmentalists can come together and support truly compatible
forestry here.
Trees are the answer to so many of our environmental problems. They
clean our air, water, and soil, provide habitat and beauty as well as
our planet's most useful renewable natural resource - wood fiber. They
are the ultimate solar energy producers. I will continue to look for
the environmentalist who is for forestry. If you meet one, please have
them get in touch with me to talk more about this critical issue.
* * *
Pinelands Preservation Alliance
Bishop Farmstead
17 Pemberton Rd
Southhampton NJ 08088
T: 609-859-8860
F: 609-859-8804
E: ppa@pinelandsalliance.org
W: http://www.pinelandsalliance.org