Mr. Cooper states:
> Now, the question that has to be answered is this: Are the groups that are
> calling for restrictions on timber harvests in National Forests truly
> representative of the U.S.citizenry? My gut feeling is that they are very
> much a minority. However, they are a very vocal minority.
This is a very common view among traditionally-minded foresters. But there is a
lot of evidence that a major and broad-based shift in environmental values has
been taking place over the past couple of decades, and that the ways in which
people value the national forests is changing. See, for example, Samuel Hays
book BEAUTY, HEALTH, AND PERMANENCE: ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS IN THE UNITED
STATES, 1955-1985, or his article "The new environmental forest" in the Univ. of
Colorado Law Review, vol. 59, 1988, pp. 517-550. (This is the same Samuel Hays
who wrote the classic history of the early conservation movement, CONSERVATION
AND THE GOSPEL OF EFFICIENCY). A large body of social science research has
focused on this shift in values, and my own research on the evolution of
national forest values confirms the shift.
Foresters must learn how to manage forests in ways that are responsive to these
changing values. After all, as John Cooper has stated:
> the National Forests are public lands and should be managed as the public
> sees fit.
dave bengston
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David Bengston, Ecological Economist /\/\
Social & Economic Dimensions _------ \
of Ecosystem Management Unit /\/\ / \\
North Central Forest Experiment Station ( )
1992 Folwell Av., St. Paul, MN 55108 ( )
USA ( _ ))
( ) \| |/
Phone: (612) 649-5162 \|/ | |
Fax : (612) 649-5285 | | |
Email: bengs001@maroon.tc.umn.edu / \ / \
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