As presented by Langston (Environmental Studies/Univ. of
Wisconsin), it is no idle metaphor to state that federal forest
managers could not see the forest for the trees in pursuit of an
efficient means of harvesting timber in Oregon's Blue Mountains.
Langston's thoroughly researched and balanced study traces the
tragic but well-intentioned policies practiced in the early 20th
century by foresters seeking to maintain a sustained-yield economy
but lacking cognizance of the ecology of old-growth forests.
Adopting an ethic that the forest in its natural condition was
"decadent, wasteful, and inefficient," and spurred to action by the
rapacious logging activities of corporate timber interests, the
early Forest Service sought to regulate forest growth so that a
continual harvest of desirable ponderosa pine would be available to
logging companies. In return, the loggers had to observe the
scientific guidelines set forth by early reformers such as George
Perkins Marsh and Gifford Pinchot. But the science was flawed. Not
only did the ponderosa vanish, but Douglas firs fell victim to
insects and disease related to intensive clear-cutting of old
growth trees. Fire suppression similarly had unintended negative
effects, as did the Forest Service's grazing leases. And during the
Depression even more cutting was encouraged to maintain profits.
But it is the paradox of the title that lies at the heart of the
problem: "The more managers alter a forest, the less they can
predict the paths that [tree] succession will take." While noting
that there can be no return to the original forest in the Blues,
Langston counsels that we can restore it to biological health if we
substitute ideals of "commodity production" with "ideals which
allow for complexity, diversity, and uncertainty." This is an
important and accessible contribution to recent forest-ecology
literature, and required reading for all federal and state
officials. (Kirkus Reviews)
The Blue Mountains have become the Blade Runner scenario for the
public lands, synechdoche for what might have, and has, gone
horribly wrong. This is a book that argues powerfully for the
complexity of nature, and demonstrates the need for equally complex
explanations. A book of fundamental importance to both western and
environmental history.--Stephen J. Pyne, author of World FireAcross
the inland West, forests that once seemed like paradise have turned
into an ecological nightmare. Fires, insect epidemics, and disease
now threaten millions of acres of once-bountiful forests. Yet no
one can agree what went wrong. Was it too much management--or not
enough--that forced the forests of the inland West to the verge of
collapse? Is the solution more logging, or no logging at all? In
this gripping work of scientific and historical detection, Nancy
Langston unravels the disturbing history of what went wrong with
the western forests, despite the best intentions of those
involved.Focusing on the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon and
southeastern Washington, she explores how the complex landscapes
that so impressed settlers in the nineteenth century became an
ecological disaster in the late twentieth. Federal foresters,
intent on using their scientific training to stop exploitation and
waste, suppressed light fires in the ponderosa pinelands. Hoping to
save the forests, they could not foresee that their policies would
instead destroy what they loved. When light fires were kept out, a
series of ecological changes began. Firs grew thickly in forests
once dominated by ponderosa pines, and when droughts hit, those
firs succumbed to insects, diseases, and eventually catastrophic
fires.Nancy Langston combines remarkable skills as both scientist
and writer of history to tell this story. Her ability to understand
and bring to life the complex biological processes of the forest is
matched by her grasp of the human forces at work--from Indians,
white settlers, missionaries, fur trappers, cattle ranchers, sheep
herders, and railroad builders to timber industry and federal
forestry managers.The book will be of interest to a wide audience
of environmentalists, historians, ecologists, foresters, ranchers,
and loggers--and all people who want to understand the changing
lands of the West.
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