deforestation and butterflies

[Roger Kuhlman]

I agree with you that fire suppression, particularly of natural fires, is a 
bad thing in the western US and western Canada because these forests are 
adapted to and flourish with periodic natural fire. The same might not be 
true in other forested ecosystems especially those in the tropics--how often 
does large-scale burnings occur naturally in the rainforests of Brazil.

It's not my general understanding that the word 'deforestation' applies
to forests that have undergone transformation by natural fires. To me the 
term applies clear-cutting of old-growth forests or the large-scale 
application of artificial fires in slash-and-burn agriculture to remove 
forests for various purposes(things like cattle farms).

A good resource manager I would say would be concerned with planned and 
regulated timber harvesting when it involves the clear-cutting of old-growth 
forests that most of the timber industry is always clamoring for.

Roger Kuhlman


>The monarch topic and a morning field trip with a forester into the real
>world caused me to think about something that seldom gets mentioned and
>which many people may not be aware of.  Firstly, deforestation is not de
>facto a bad thing, unless one has philosophical leanings that way.   
>Natural
>process periodically de-forests parts of forested landscapes and organisms
>have adapted to that, or gone extinct - all very natural.  There is
>documentation that shows in the western USA and western Canda,  we actually
>have more forested landscapes now (after 100 years of fire suppression) 
>than
>we had when mother nature ruled the wilderness and there were no loggers
>around.  As a biologist and resource management practitioner, I am far more
>concerned about forest encroachment and forest ingrowth in certain
>ecosystems than I am about planned and regulated timber harvesting.  Trees
>are not always good things and tree planting in one park (parks supposedly
>protect things) in southern ontario contributed to the demise of the karner
>blue in Canada.
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Norbert Kondla  P.Biol., RPBio.
>Forest Ecosystem Specialist, Ministry of Environment
>845 Columbia Avenue, Castlegar, British Columbia V1N 1H3
>Phone 250-365-8610
>Mailto:Norbert.Kondla at gems3.gov.bc.ca
>http://www.env.gov.bc.ca
>

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