ONE FOREST, TWO STUDIES
In the old
West, arguments may have been settled by a gunfight on Main Street,
but in the battle over Southwest forests there is a new kind of
showdown – dueling studies. A recent Forest Service report claims
that the number of larger trees in the region has decreased little
over the last 24 years. The study also finds that the forests are
in poor health, due in part to measures to protect endangered
species. Those were fighting words for the nonprofit Southwest
Center for Biological Diversity, which then wrote its own analysis:
Forest Fraud and Forest Health. Using the same data, the group
concludes that logging has destroyed old-growth stands: The number
of trees greater than 29 inches in diameter dropped by 36 percent
between 1962 and 1986.
For a copy of Changes in
Southwestern Forests: Stewardship Implications, contact the Forest
Service, 517 Gold Ave., S.W., Albuquerque, NM 87102 (505/842-3242).
For a copy of Forest Fraud and Forest Health, contact the Southwest
Center for Biological Diversity, P.O. Box 17839, Tucson, AZ 85731
(520/733-1391).
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline One forest, two studies.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
