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Forest Habitat No Forests, No Future When Europeans first arrived on the shores of North America, the vast wilderness that lay beyond seemed endless. Unbroken virgin forests hosted bountiful fish and wildlife. America was home to hundreds of thousands of grizzly bear, giant herds of elk and bison, billions of salmon leaping from the rivers, and endless flocks of passenger pigeons. In just two centuries, our irresponsible stewardship of this paradise has brought us to the brink of ecological meltdown. Field biologists were the first to recognize the magnitude of the problem, and they began warning back in the 1970s that populations of myriad species were declining and ecosystems were collapsing all around the world. More recently, Michael Soulé, founder of the Society for Conservation Biology, and Harvard entomologist E.O. Wilson have pieced together the fossil record of terrestrial evolution with alarming results. At a current rate of extinction as much as 10,000 times the normal background rate documented in the fossil record, we are presiding over the sixth great extinction in our planets history. The last occurred 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs disappeared. Wilson has warned that one-third of all the species on Earth could die out in the next 40 years. Humankind is on the road to doing away with biological diversity. Simply defined, biological diversity is the variety of all life forms and the natural processes upon which they depend. However, biodiversity is no simple matter. Nature is infinitely complex, and all forms of life are intertwined and depend on one another for survival. The stakes are enormous. Ecosystems that cannot function to reproduce and replenish themselves are doomed. Preserving biological diversity is essential to our very existence because we rely on the same intricately balanced ecosystems for our survival as do all the other species. The value of a species is impossible to quantify because we cannot know exactly where it fits into the ecosystem and what other species it supports. The extinction of a single plant species, it has been estimated, can result in the disappearance of 30 other species, including other plants, insects and animals. Yet the same scientists who bring us the bad news of the extinction crisis also bring us hope, in the form of a new science called conservation biology. Its general principles are not hard to grasp: bigger is better (a single large habitat is usually better than several small, isolated ones); large native carnivores are better than none; intact habitat is preferable to artificially disturbed habitat; and connected habitats are usually better than fragmented ones. Based on these principles, we can lead the world toward a new vision of ecological integrity. We must create an interlocking network of protected habitat, based on large core areas of wilderness surrounded by buffer zones and connected by biological corridors. The cores would be managed to protect and restore native biological diversity and natural processes. Wilderness recreation is compatible with these areas, but ecological considerations would come first. Surrounding the cores would be buffer zones where increasing levels of compatible human activity would take place as one moved away from the core. Corridors would provide secure routes between cores, enabling wide-ranging plant and animal species to disperse and facilitating genetic exchange between populations. Our National Forest System is central to this vision. Combined with National Parks and other federal and state reserves, National Forests can provide the building blocks for this new, ecological network in the United States. The vast array of habitats in our National Forests, from subarctic tundra to tropical rain forest, provide habitat for more than 3,000 species of wildlife and fish and 10,000 plant species. Of these, more than 230 are on the federal list of endangered plants and animals. Over 2,250 have been designated by the U.S. Forest Service as sensitive species. Over all, about one-third of all listed species rely at least in part on habitat provided by our National Forests and grasslands. Many of the natural symbols of our nation, such as the bald eagle, peregrine falcon, and grizzly bear, depend upon healthy forest habitat for their survival. The ancient forests of the Northwest are by far the most intact representation of presettlement old-growth ecosystems remaining in the U.S. Beneath the worlds largest and most extensive stands of giant conifers lie soils that scientists believe may contain the highest levels of terrestrial activity in the entire world. The thousands of species of fungi and invertebrates in these soils offer endless opportunities for scientists to find medicines that could cure cancer and agricultural discoveries that could help feed the worlds hungry. This type of biodiversity simply does not exist in clearcut areas or second-growth forests. The first step in establishing this new network to protect our natural areas and wildlife is quite clear. We must put an end to the construction of new roads into roadless areas. Habitat loss and fragmentation caused by commercial operations and bulldozed logging roads are major culprits in the current biological crisis. Nearly two-thirds of all National Forest lands are already roaded and developed. But there are still 4045 million acres of unprotected roadless areas in our National Forests. They should stay roadless. Some species can survive only in roadless areas. Bull trout are so highly sensitive to siltation caused by logging and roads that they can thrive only in watersheds that are largely roadless. Grizzlies, salmon, gray wolves, lynx, mountain goats and other species are also wilderness-dependent. Protecting roadless areas is the biggest single step we can take right now to begin the process of recovering our imperiled heritage. Such visions may seem unrealistic given the entrenched Forest Service bureaucracy, and a Congress dominated by zealots who would tear down decades of conservation policy and open public lands to the exploiters Teddy Roosevelt fought almost a century ago. But by joining forces, average Americans can overcome any obstacle for the good of the country and future generations. The actions we take today will determine whether we leave our grandchildren a legacy of living, natural forests abounding with wildlife, or a wasteland of stumps. Do we have the generosity of spirit, the greatness of heart to share the land with other species? I believe we do. Dave Foreman serves on the Board of Directors of the Sierra Club and is chairman of The Wildlands Project. He wrote Confessions of an Ecowarrior (Crown, 1991) and co-authored The Big Outside (Harmony Books, 1992). More on forest habitat | Report Contents Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club |
