Assembly passes 'forest stewardship' bill to allow. A bill passed today in the state Assembly would allow logging in state forests as part of a program to manage. Forest Stewardship Program; Farmland Assessment; Pests and Diseases. Changing Forest Fire Ecology Forest Discovery Forest Products. Forest Stewardship Council Recognizes Forest Champions. Kimberly-Clark - Using the FSC label to tell their story. Business Leadership: IKEA and McDonald's. Environmentally Appropriate. Protecting and maintaining natural commu. Forest Stewardship Bill is a giant leap for conservation. By Anthony P. Mauro Sr. The op- ed denigrating the Forest Stewardship Bill (S1. Logging in N. J. Nature accomplishes regeneration through disturbance by using the forces of fire, wind, disease, insects and other energies. To the lay person, disturbance may appear to be forest destruction, but deliberate doses of fire, disease, insects and other forces provide for varying forest age classes, on which the survival of plant and animal species depend. Disturbance and regeneration are dynamic processes that occur at different stages and provide for a distribution of age classes within a forest. This, in turn, produces biodiversity — a foundation for forest vigor and the health of dependent flora and fauna. If a forest’s trees all belong to one age class, it will produce a habitat well- suited to some plants and animals but will not sustain the lives of many others. Some of New Jersey’s forests are in this state now. New Jerseyans have done a fine job of buying open space, including forested areas, but have not managed the forests in their possession. Forest Stewardship Program . Private lands management in New Jersey. Some people believe that the act of purchasing forests and setting them aside allows for Mother Nature to manage them. This is a misperception. While we act to save forests from the leveling blades of heavy equipment, our society acts correspondingly to suppress or prevent the natural forces needed to manage them. Suppression or prevention of natural disturbance compromises forest regeneration, particularly of the keystone oak and pine species that are of great importance to New Jersey’s forests, and, as a consequence, destabilizes the habitat needed to sustain plants and wildlife. There is evidence that red- headed woodpeckers, indigenous plants, bobwhite quail, ruffed grouse and other wildlife border on extinction in New Jersey. Although it appears counterintuitive, when humans prevent Mother Nature from managing forests by suppressing her natural forces, we act to compromise her immune system. Passive management creates severe imbalances in the ecosystem, which allow populations of insects, disease and deer to intensify beyond the ability of nature to manage these forces efficiently. It also causes overstocking of biofuels. The result is a forest susceptible to massive insect and disease outbreaks, devastating wildfires and increased vulnerability to wind. Many of the people who understand the reasons why damage is occurring to forest health in New Jersey have spent more than three years creating a catalyst to implement forest disturbance and initiate regeneration — and it is incorporated into the forest stewardship bill. S1. 08. 5 allows certified foresters to work in conjunction with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and with oversight from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to prioritize environmental need as the basis for employing forest management techniques. These techniques mimic nature’s methods of providing disturbance. FSC oversight ensures that the sole purpose of providing forest management is determined by environmental need and not economic considerations. S1. 08. 5 allows for by- product of environmental stewardship activities to be sold and directs the proceeds back to the DEP, where it is earmarked for implementing future forest stewardship initiatives. A few of the most established and widely recognized environmental organizations in New Jersey endorse the legislation. These include: the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance, the N. J. Audubon Society, the N. J. Conservation Foundation, the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, the N. J. Forestry Association, the Nature Conservancy, the N. J. Tree Farm Program and the N. J. Society of American Foresters. Experts in wildlife management, threatened and endangered species, invertebrates, soil management, and others committed to the protection of birds, mammals, other animals and plants also support the bill. Russell’s ad hominem attacks directed at forestry professionals, state legislators and those representing conservation organizations are misplaced. These people are consummate professionals dedicated to the well- being of plants, wildlife and the integrity of the environment. Her reckless comments play on public ignorance about the workings of forests and therefore serve to perpetuate the status quo, which propagates the decline of healthy forests. Forests provide many life- sustaining functions. They act as a “sponge” following rainfall, which in turn reduces erosion and allows water to seep into the soil, nourishing plants and filtering pollutants from groundwater. Forest canopies provide the shade that helps maintain the cooler stream temperatures aquatic organisms need. Forests remove large amounts of greenhouse gases and particulates from the air and store carbon in leaves and woody matter. In short, forests are essential to all living things; we are therefore obligated to forest stewardship whether for purposes of altruism or our own selfish reasons. Forest Stewardship Bill S1. 1 The Hudson Farm Club: 2012 NJ Tree Farm of the Year The Hudson Farm Club is located between Andover and Lake Hopatcong in Sussex County, NJ. The farm is about 3980 acres with 2700 forested acres in the Tree Farm Program.
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