Forsest Service Essay, Research Paper

Since World War 2, the Forest Service had gone through a major revolution that it included the need to be more efficient and cost-effective in production of timber as a crop from national forest lands. However, the increased effort of timber production clashed with environmental issues, the need for more recreation and wildlife viewing.

In 1960, law with management of the national forests according to a philosophy of sustained yield and multiple use charged the Forest Service. This was the production of timber, preservation of fish and wildlife habitat, watershed maintenance, mining, grazing, and recreation. In the 1960s, demand for timber led the Forest Service to adopt the practice of clearcutting used also by the commercial timber industry. Vast forest tracts were stripped of all trees, leaving an unsightly bald area. As a result of many environmental consequences by clearcutting, environmentalists and the general public became livid and filed several lawsuits against the Forest Service. They urged restoration of damaged areas and more equitable multiple-use management in the future. In particular, emphasis has been placed on managing the forests in terms of broad concepts of land use and environmental quality. Like other federal agencies, the Forest Service must now assess the environmental impact of proposed actions, such as building new roads through the forests or granting rights to drill for oil or mine for coal and other minerals

The main goal of The National Forest Service in modern times is to find a balance between forest protection and resource production. With the given pressures of increasing population growth and heightened demand for forest resources in recent years, the task has proven difficult. A special program in 1990 called the New Perspectives for Managing the National Forest System was established within the Forest Service as a means to achieve this balance. The Program’s objective was to enhance the ecological basis of land management, sustain the diversity and productivity of the land, and improve public responsiveness to land management. The New Perspectives was a reaffirmation of the original concepts of multiple use management.

New Perspectives promoted creativity, innovated ideas, risks, and leadership among employees of the Forest Service. However, several workers weren’t exactly supportive of the freedom granted by the New Perspective because they believed it was simply too vague. Instead, employees urged Forest Service to set guidelines and specifically state how New Perspectives is supposed to appear. The employees believe they could be successful in launching the program if they know specifically what to launch.

Forest Service workers soon became engaged in the New perspectives for the Forest Service because of its new and creative motives and revolutionized how forest management is executed today and has set new standards. Under these new standards, people and economies became integral parts of ecosystems. They strived for sustainability of ecosystems and economies through diversification. The concept of multiple-values for a land was embraced and people were able to integrate the best scientific thought for what they did, including monitoring the results of their actions. Before starting projects, they took the initiative of studying the cumulative effects in space and time and what potentially could happen environmentally, economically or socially to the land and area.

After New Perspectives was launched, the Forest Services took a step further in using an ecological approach to achieve the multiple-use management of national forests and grasslands. This new initiative was called “ecosystem management”. It enabled the needs of the people and environmental values to mix together and that national forests and grasslands represent diverse, healthy, productive, and sustainable ecosystems.