Uleslern woods persIectiue Becoming a true enuirunmcntalist

By Nicole Mashore

A RE YOU an environmentalist? I'm not asking whether llyou are a spokesman for the Siena Club, just whether you consider yourself someone who cares about the environment.

Chances are the answer is yes. A recent Nature Conservancy poll found that nearly 757o of the American public consider themselves environmentalists in this sense. Unfortunately, you may also be a lot like I was before I learned more about the measures needed to protect our world environment.

I embraced an ideal vision; one that does not fit the reality of our impact upon the world. As a child, I always bought the "Save the Rainforest" chocolate bars from the natural foods store my parents would take me to. I cultivated an organic garden, and cut up plastic soda can holders so birds wouldn't be strangled.

But in college, I took my caring a step further; I became a forestry and natural resources major. And after four years of education I have found that saving forests is a lot more complex than buying chocolate bars. It means accepting that humans have altered the environment by their presence and will continue to do so. It means realizing that our population and resource consumption are ever increasing.

I also came to realize something equally important-that too many well-intentioned people have been swayed by emotional, but scientifically unsound, arguments from activist groups crafting clever sound-bites and raising money. In truth, one of our biggest environmental problems is our lack of environmental education and our lack of appreciation for where the wood products we use come from. This contributes to the degradation of forests on a global level.

Californians have for decades restricted nearly all harvesting of timber from California forestlands, both public and private. The California Forest Products Commission reports that overall timber harvesting in our state is down 60Vo in the last 15 years. While this may seem like we're preserving the environment, in fact, Califomians have one of the highest wood consumption rates in the world. In other words, we are isolating our own state's forests while devastating those elsewhere. California now imports about 80Vo of the wood products it uses, from places with environmental regulations that are far less stringent than our own.

According to University of California-Berkeley forestry professor emeritus William J. Libby, for every acre of forestland not harvested for timber here. at least two acres must be harvested in tropical forests. Do you think the forestry and harvesting practices in places like Brazil, Chile and other emerging international timber players come anywhere near California's environmental standards? Think again.

So what is the answer to protecting the world's forests? Education, and harvesting more of our own wood in a sustainable way from California's well-managed forests.

California has among the most stringent forest practice laws in the world. When wood is harvested on private lands in California, comprehensive plans must be prepared by licensed, registered professional foresters (RPFs) and approved by the state. RPF plans address water quality, erosion, wildlife impact, and nearly any other environmental issue you can imagine.

But no matter how strict our environmental laws are, we will keep devastating the world's environment as long as we refuse to harvest in our own back yard. Doing so in a responsible, sustainable way will not devastate our forests. An incredible 97Vo of California's old-growth forests are protected in parks and federal ownerships, and is always off limits. Clearcuts, as most people think of them, have been illegal for decades. Reforestation is required by law, and private foresters plant about seven trees for every one they harvest.

As John Muir put it, "Forests, like perennial fountains, may be made to yield a sure harvest of timber while at the same time all their far-reaching beneficent uses may be maintained unimpaired. "

As educated environmentalists we must stop opposing responsible harvesting on Califomia forestlands. As consumers, we should buy wood products from sustainable forests, like California-grown wood.

People value forests for wood products-from lumber and paper to camera film and crayons-as well as for wildlife, watersheds, and recreation. Responsible use of these global resources means recognizing misinformation when you hear it, and engaging the natural resource management debate with your voice and your choices.

And if enough Californians educate themselves, our leaders will stop being swayed by misinformation and begin taking the necessary steps toward worldwide environmental responsibility.