Southern Forest Resource Assessment The suggestions or concerns below were submitted in response to preliminary assessment questions but did not directly fit with a particular question--for details see our Public Input or Methods pages

General Comments--Forest Extent, Conditions, and Health Trends appear to be cut & run - Far too many clearcuts; Far too much pulpwood extraction; Far too little attention to forest health. Old growth remnants of the orriginal forest should be left intact (including not cutting within 300 feet of their borders) in order that they remain a seed bed of the orriginal biology and a laboratory for biological and pharmaceutical study. The native forests belong to the people because they are a part of our everyday lives. We need them for ourselves and our planet to survive. Monoculture pine plantations do not support the eco-system like the native hardwood forest. A combination of not using chipmills and planting will help the ecosystem in Georgia tremindously. Need to do a better job of identifying sources of pollution, regardless of geographic source or location. Flash floods have become more prevalent in these forested regions, and local inhabitants decry the disrespect and abuse of the land imposed by absentee landowners who sell their timber for chips. This federal study will hopefully provide the information needed to protect our forests. I must first point out that it is interesting that you have a public comment period, and yet you don't allow the possibility for answering questions other than these four; very craftily chosen, they were. As 60% of the nation's clean drinking water comes from forest watersheds, it is vital that forest health continue as human growth expands. Forest health means limited cutting. Period. We need to protect Southern forests.· Forests provide clean drinking water, protect habitat for hunting and fishing, and improve the quality of life for families throughout the South.· We aren’t against cutting down trees, but we are against industrial-scale chip mills eliminating Southern forest heritage.· Corporations must not build any new chip mills until we have more information about their impact on forests and have adequate safeguards in place for the forests. Please save what's left! Suggested contacting Orie Loucks, professor at U. Miami(Ohio); conducted a study of the mixed mesophytic forest health through SAFAP?? What are the impacts of different forest pests/invaders on forest health? Question as revised in response to these comments Previous Question | Next Question Public Input Home | Methods | Assessment Home

  modified: 1-MAR-2000
  webmaster: John M. Pye