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Forestry issues in Tennessee are complex, crucial and rarely
discussed in the political realm in the context of worldwide
forest loss, global warming and related environmental issues
of clean air, clean water, effects on rainfall and run-off
and habitat loss.
Worldwide forest losses each year are equal
to an area as large as half the state of Georgia and the
rate of deforestation is increasing as the human population
of the planet has surpassed 6.4 billion.
See the current world population estimate here from the U.
S. Census Bureau.
Forests are the basis for our ecology in
Tennessee and provide the natural services of clean air,
clean water, scenic beauty, outdoor recreation and human and
nonhuman habitat to all Tennessee citizens, land owners and
non land owners alike.
These reports and resources provide insight
into these issues.
Forestry in Tennessee is also an important
economic enterprise and has been since the first days of
European settlement. We need forestry, but the
forestry we need must be balanced and sustainable.
Recent industrial forestry in Tennessee and
the Southeast is resulting in large scale clear cuts,
conversion of native forests to hundreds of thousands of
acres of pine plantations and clear cutting of native
forest for chip mills over hundreds of thousand of acres. |
Liquidation Timber Harvesting in Maine: Potential Policy
Approaches
Harvard
Environmental Law Review 2005 PDF
Science, Biodiversity & Sustainable Forestry 2005
PDF
Landscape Analysis Laboratory University of the South
Link
An Assessment of Forest Change on the Cumberland Plateau in
Southern Tennessee 2002 Link
Scientists' Letter to Governor Phil Bredesen April 2004
PDF
Kenneth Tidwell Named Runner Up for Tennessee's Best Tree
Farmer in 2004 PDF
"What we demonstrate with this tree farm is that most
forests are mixed, and the species are very diverse. This is
what we want, not clear-cutting and planting only one type
of tree across the landscape like you see some companies
doing. We're producing wood on a tree farm. We're trying to
raise real timber, and at the same time, be good stewards of
the land. We replenish and sustain the forest by selectively
cutting trees that are appropriate," Tidwell said.
Tennessee Forest Fragmentation Report 2003 PDF
Tennessee's Rich Yet Fragile Web by Dr. Daniel Simberloff
UTK PDF
Kentucky Forest Owner's Handbook Link to 100+ page
handbook
Running Pure:
The Importance of Forest Protected Areas to Drinking Water
August 2003 PDF
Logging Off: Mechanisms to Stop or Prevent Industrial
Logging in Forests of High Conservation Value October 2001
PDF
Corporate Forestland Ownership and Community Well Being in
the
Cumberland Plateau Region of Tennessee October 2000
PDF
The Timber Industry's Sustainable Forestry Initiative:
Inadequate to Ensure the Long-Term Sustainability of the
South's Forests 2000 PDF
Cumberland Plateau Area Species Richness 1999 PDF
EPA Tennessee Climate Change Impact Report 1999
PDF
Report on Sustainable Forestry 1999 PDF
The Sky Did NOT Fall: The Pacific Northwest’s Response to
Logging Reductions 1999 PDF |
