Logging in the United States

     Commercial logging has been a problem in the United States for years. In the 1600s, nearly half of the United States was forest (about 1 billion acres). As shown in figure 3.2 below, the forests in the United states have been dwindling down due to deforestation since the mid 1800s, and still are to this day. In 2005 the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Global Forest Resources Assessment ranked the United States 7th highest country losing its old forest growth. The United States is the world’s leading producer and consumer of forest products and accounts for about one-fourth of the world’s production and consumption. The United States is also the world’s largest producer of softwood and hardwood lumber. In 1996, total annual sales for commercial (nonfederal) timber and nontimber forest products was approximately $3.8 billion. But its not just commercial logging that is the issue. The United States is trying to stop people from logging illegally. The U.S. Forest Service states that illegal logging is the biggest problem with deforestation because it is nearly impossible to monitor and stop. If the United States continues to let commercial loggers and illegal loggers destroy our forest at this rate, then it will not be long before there are no forests left.



Citations:

http://www.scudderandhedrick.net/articles/logging-dangers/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_in_the_United_States
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm3.static.flickr.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTuPHt4TYSw