The Development of Forest Policy in the United States

1. The Development of Forest Policy in the United States Kenneth Williams Fisheries Extension Specialist Langston University Aquaculture Extension Program Elements of Forestry

2. Native Americans to 1607 • Population low • Forest exploitation was minimal.

3. Colonial settlers 1607 - 1783 • Forests a nuisance to agriculture. The more trees cut the better. • The view was that forests were inexhaustible. • Wood was the primary energy source.

4. Colonial settlers 1607 - 1783 • 1st forest policy 1626 – no timber products transported out of Plymouth Colony without consent of governor and council. • 1681 – Pennsylvania, 1 acre must remain forested for every 5 acres cleared.

5. Ship building industry • Trees for ship masts sent to England by 1609. • Ship building begins in the colonies in 1631. • 1691 –”Broad Arrow” policy -any tree over 24 inches in dia. Reserved for the British crown. • The policy was enforced by heavy fines. Unpopular with colonists. • This policy led to the “Pine Tree Riot” in New Hampshire.

6. Building the republic 1783 - 1830 • 1781 – Articles of Confederation. U.S. formed. All lands west of colonies belong to U.S. government. • Lands were given as reward to revolutionary soldiers and sold to pay government war debt.

7. Building the republic 1783 - 1830 • Land ordinance of 1785 – Old Northwest Territory (Ohio west to the Mississippi river) surveyed and sold to pay national debt. • Any territory with 60,000 residents can become a state.

8. Old Northwest Territory

9. Building the republic 1783 - 1830 • Land purchased required buying a minimum of 640 acres at $1/acre. • Most people could not afford that much so they bought elsewhere or “squatted”. • Removal efforts met with little success. • The “right” of congress to control public lands in the national interest is established.

10. 1830-1891 • By 1867 with purchase of Alaska, public domain had increased to 405 million hectares. • There was a desire to populate these lands and make them productive. • Policy was to transfer land to private ownership and rely on market forces to allocate natural resources.

11. 1830-1891 • Increased pressure on timberland. • Construction of towns on the plains, railroads and reconstruction after the civil war. • Timber culture act 1873 – settlers receive 160 acres if they plant 40 acres to trees.

12. 1830-1891 • Timber and Stone act 1878 – unoccupied land principally suited to timber production or mining but not agriculture could be purchased in 160 acre tracts if he land was for personal use and not for speculation. • Speculation and fraud was rampant. • Some set up mills on public land and started cutting with no ownership.

13. 1830-1891 • This period generally characterized by rapid disposal and exploitation of the public domain. • The myth of inexhaustible resources was fading. • Concern for conservation and preservation was beginning.

14. 1830-1891 • 1876 - $2000 set a side to hire someone to study forest problems. • Franklin B. Hough chairman of the Am, Assoc for the Advancement of Sci. chosen • He later became chief of the Forestry Division which was placed in the Dept. of Ag. • Forestry Division later to become the Forest Service.

15. Preservation movement • George Catlin • Henry D. Thoreau • Frederick Law Olmsted • John Muir • They worked to get a national system of parks in the U.S. • Yellowstone is 1st - 1872

16. 1830-1891 Summary • 3 movements • Exploitative, dispose of public domain and cut extensively. • Scientific management began with the forestry division. • Preservation movement - save forest before it is lost. • Land did not go to small farmers as anticipated but ended up in large corporate holdings.

17. 1891 – 1911, developing a management philosophy • Very important period in American history. • Shift from rural to urban life. • Urban East wants preservation • Rural West wants to expand economy and develop resources. • The conflict continues today.

18. 1891 – 1911 • 1890 – the frontier no longer exists. • “Timber famine” seen as a possibility.

19. 1891 – 1911 • Three general domestic goals that affected forest policy. • Defend the rights of the people • Maintain a continuous supply of timber • Prevent waste in the exploitation of natural resources

20. Creation of forest reserves • General forest revision act of 1891 – allows president from time to time to set apart and reserve any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not. • This act served as the basis for the U.S. system of national forests.

21. Creation of forest reserves • President B. Harrison sets aside 14 reserves, 5.3 million hectares. Westerners protest. • The act did not include provision for use of the reserves. • Timber stealing, however, continues unabated due to lack of sufficient money for law enforcement.

22. Creation of forest reserves • President Cleveland sets aside another 8.6 million hectares of national forest. The West reacts. • Organic administration act of 1897 – No public forest reservation to be set aside except to improve and protect the forest for the purpose of securing favorable water flows and to furnish a continuous supply of timber.

23. Gifford Pinchot • Motto “forestry is tree farming” • He did not believe in preservation but in using forests “wisely”. • Becomes head of Forestry Division in 1898. • Tries to gain control of forest reserves from General Land Office.

24. President Theodore Roosevelt • Friends with Gifford Pinchot. Same conservation philosophy • Efficiency • Wise use • For the public good • The lasting good of men

25. Roosevelt and Pinchot • Transfer act of 1905 – reserves transferred from Dept. of Interior to Dept. of Agriculture. • Forestry Division renamed the Forest Service • Forest reserves renamed the national forests

26. Utilitarianism • National forests to be used for the permanent good of the whole people and not temporary benefit of individuals or companies. • “greatest good for the greatest number” • This echoed the Utilitarian philosophy of J.S. Mill.

27. American antiquities act - 1906 • The president can declare by proclamation objects of historic or scientific interest on the public lands to be national monuments. • Roosevelt sets aside 18 national monuments including the grand canyon. • Roosevelt enlarges national forests, adds 41 reserves totaling 18.8 million hectares. • Congress does not like it and prohibits new reserves in 6 western states.

28. National monuments

29. 1911 - 1952 • Forest policy – • Keep watersheds covered with vegetation to reduce flooding and sedimentation. • Keep sufficient wood flowing from forest to meet nation’s needs. • Protect forest from over-exploitation and losses due to fire, insects and disease. • Use forest resources to reduce unemployment and stabilize economies.

30. Conservation versus Preservation • Preservationists – preserve nature’s beauty, create national parks. • Conservationists – Forests are resources that must be used. • Conflict inevitable, dominated forest policy by the 1960’s and 70’s.

31. Conservation versus Preservation • Early 1900’s conflict centered on dividing up land. • Preservationists get national parks and monuments placed under Dept. of Interior, also expand national park system. • Conflicts arise as best park land within national forests coveted by Dept. of Interior. • Forest service develops recreational areas in hopes of making national parks unnecessary.

32. Forest recreation • Introduction of the automobile makes forests more accessible. Concerns arise over fire hazards etc. Forest service tries to keep people out of many areas. • 1918 – 1st designated wilderness area. • Aldo Leopold (forest ranger) proposes it in opposition to a proposed road near the Gila river in NM.

33. Wilderness • A continuous stretch of country preserved in its natural state, open to lawful hunting and fishing, big enough to absorb a 2 weeks backpacking trip, and kept devoid of roads, artificial trails, cottages or the works of man. • National wilderness system established in 1926.

34. Forest service expansion • Expands national forests in the East • Promoted forest research • Developed national forests • Regulated forest practices on private lands

35. Weeks act of 1911 • Government could purchase lands at the headwaters of navigable streams. • Ostensibly to help prevent floods and reduce sedimentation but mostly to increase forest reserves.

36. Forest research • Raphael Zon – 1908 - proposes experiment stations, established in 1910, emphasizes applied research. • McSweeney-McNary Act 1928 – research raised to same level of importance as other forest service activities.

37. 1924 - Regulation of private forests • Very controversial • Federal vs states right • Pinchot believed states too easily controlled by timber interests. • Compromise in congress by avoiding issue and concentrating on fire control.

38. Civilian Conservation Corps • 1933 – 1942 – part of FDR’s ”New Deal” • 2 million people in the program • Goals: • Unemployment relief • Prevention of soil erosion • Flood control • Parks creation • Forestry

39. Civilian Conservation Corps • Built trails • Thinned forests • Fought fires • Planted trees • Constructed campgrounds

40. Sustained yield forest management act -1944 • An area is managed to produce roughly equal annual or periodic yields of a resource. • Not aimed at national needs but safeguarding economies of forest dependent communities from timber shortages.

41. Post world war II • Forests decimated from timber harvest used in war production. Timber cutting exceeded growth. • Forest service blames timber industry. • President Eisenhower sides with corporate timber interests. • Forest service gives up on federal control of private forests.

42. 1952 – presentMultiple use forests • Recreational use of forests climbs steadily, however, but not near as important as timber production as an objective in forest management. • Main reason to build campgrounds was to keep people out of the way of commodity uses of the forest. And to help prevent fires by concentrating people in known areas.

43. 1952 – presentMultiple use forests • Hugh demand for timber after the war dominated attention of foresters. • They did not pay sufficient attention to enormous growth in forest recreation. • Park service and forest service compete for administrative control of recreational lands.

44. Multiple use forests • Forest service needed a way to fund recreational projects and to protect itself from unacceptable demands of the timber and grazing industries. • These Forest Service needs bring about the Multiple Use – Sustained Yield Act of 1960.

45. Multiple Use – Sustained Yield Act of 1960 • The act directed that national forests should be managed for: • Recreation • Timber • Range • Watershed • Fish and wildlife

46. The wilderness system • Wilderness Act of 1964 – set aside 3.7 million hectares in 54 areas • Eastern Wilderness Act of 1975 – 16 new Eastern wilderness areas totaling 83,772 hectares. • Wilderness issues are always controversial.

47. Bureau of Land Management • Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 – Creates BLM and gave it land management responsibilities. (although it had already been operative for 30 years).

48. The clearcutting issue • Clearcutting is a harvesting method in which all trees in a certain area are cut then the site is regenerated from seeds planting or other methods. • If done properly clearcuttingis environmentally safe. However,it is not “pretty”.

49. The clearcutting issue • Forest service heavily criticized by the public for the practice. • Congressional studies and hearings are held. • Forest service found to be more interested in timer harvest than any other aspect of its mandate. It was not adjusting to changing social values.

50. The clearcutting issue • As a result of public outcry, forest service was restricted to clearcutting areas no larger than 10 hectares or less and management policies were changed to encourage a wide variety of harvesting practices. • Moves to stop clearcutting altogether caused congress to pass the National Forest management Act of 1976.