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Conservation in Context

Sustaining Americas Forest Legacy

Americas 750 million acres of pri- vate and public forest lands are aremarkable legacy of this nationscommitment to forest conservationand restoration over the past cen-tury. This forest legacy provides a

wide range of benefits and valuesincluding wood, clean water, wild-life, recreation, green space, carbon

uptake and storage, cultural lega-cies and connections, and aestheticbeauty and inspirationnot to men-tion jobs and tax revenues to supportschools and local government.

But our world is changing, ourforests are changing, and our forestlegacy is in peril (NCSSF 2008).

Changing demographics: Our in-creasing numbers mean increasing

demand. The population of theUnited States has grown by 75%over the past 50 years, and it isexpected to grow by another 40%by 2050. In 1955 there were 8.5acres of forest for every Ameri-can. Today it is 4.7 acres. Assum-ing current trends in land develop-ment and forest conversion con-tinue, U.S. per capita forest area

will be 1.8 acres in 2050.

Changing human demands on

forest lands: The demands placedon forest land have grown in quan-tity and complexity. Demand for

wood products, clean water, recre-ation, and wildlife continues togrow, along with accelerated inter-est in forests as a primary energysource and a repository for carbon.There is unprecedented growth indemand for land for development,

with human influences on forests

extending far beyond the areas thatare actually developed.

Changing forest cover: Forestlands are rapidly disappearing, es-pecially in urban-rural transitions

where the benefits and values offorest cover are so badly needed.The extent of and commitment tostreamside forest buffers on agri-

cultural landscapes depends tooheavily on the whims of the mar-ketplace and uncertainties of elec-toral cycles and Farm Bill reautho-rizations.

Changing forest health: Evenwhere acreage is stable, forest ben-efits and values are increasinglydiminished. Wildlife diversity andecosystem services are decreasingas a consequence of the fragmen-tation of forests by roads and de-

velopment and by the growth insingle-species, short-rotation forestmanagement. To these changes isadded a growing litany of inva-sive nonnative species that influ-ence forest biodiversity and man-agement options in all regions.New diseases and insect pests ap-pear in U.S. forests each year, cau-sing losses of trees and even spe-cies in every region of the country.In many western forest types,fire suppression coupled with his-toric management practices hasincreased flammable fuels withinstands and across forested land-scapes. This, along with droughtand increased human access, hasincreased the likelihood of ignitionof severe fires and their propaga-tion across large areas. That thenumber of state and federally listedthreatened and endangered forest

species continues to grow shouldbe no surprise.

Changing climate: Human activi-ties are causing concentrations ofcarbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases to increase andtemperatures to rise in our atmo-sphere. These changes are alreadyinfluencing many forest species

and processes. Development andlandscape fragmentation confoundthese impacts. Future forest man-agers may need to consider meansof augmenting natural rates ofadaptation and species movement.Nevertheless, forests store largequantities of Earths carbon, andthey may be managed to store evenmore. Thus, forest management isa potentially important tool to mit-igate carbon emissions and global

warming.

Some of these changes are in-evitable, others are not. To sustainthe forest benefits and values wecherish, our lands must be managedto reverse adverse change where thatis possible and to adapt to changesthat cannot be reversed. This man-agement will require a shared under-standing of the importance of Amer-icas forests and a bold, new visionfor their future. A central tenet of thatunderstanding is that forests are key-stone elements in the conservationof air, water, biological diversity, andbeauty across the full gradient of hu-man land uses. Central to that visionare policies and actions aimed at con-serving the full complement of forestbenefits and values across entire land-scapes. The following must be amongthose policies and actions.

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ConservationBiology, Volume22, No.6, 13781379C2008 Society for Conservation Biology

DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.01102.x

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Christensen 1379

Reprioritize forest management

objectives on public lands. Overthe past century, public forestssuch as the National Forest Sys-tem have become islands of wild-life habitat, water protection, andrecreation in a sea of conflictinguses on private lands. Land-use pol-icy must now acknowledge thischange and set the conservation ofthese specific benefits and valuesas the highest priority for publiclands. Such policies will have theadded benefit of enhancing carbonuptake and storage.

Provide stable and permanent in-

centives for forest greenways and

buffers on both urban and ru-

ral landscapes. Through financialincentives and land planning, fu-

ture policies must encourage es-

tablishment and maintenance ofpermanent forest corridors that re-connect the forest landscape andsustain flows of clean water instreams and rivers. Reconnectedlandscapes will mitigate global

warming and be a source of beauty. Improve planning and coordi-

nation across jurisdictions and

ownerships. Future policies willprovide incentives and institu-tions for forest ecosystem manage-ment across ownership and juris-dictional boundaries. These pro-grams will encourage participationand foster trust among all stake-holders. They are especially impor-tant for effective management offorest health challenges that ex-tend across traditional borders of

jurisdiction and ownership.

Implement innovative and effec-

tive communication and learn-

ing. Future policies and programswill foster understating of the im-portance of integrated land plan-ning and management and of themultiple benefits and values thatobtained from such management.

Norman L. Christensen, Jr.

Nicholas School of the Environment, Box

90329, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708,

U.S.A., email normc@duke.edu

Literature Cited

NCSSF. 2008. Forests for Tomorrow. The

final report of the National Commis-

sion on Science for Sustainable Forestry.

www.ncssf.org (accessed August 2008).

Conservation Biology

Volume 22, No. 6, 2008