The lumber industry involves the “production and harvesting of trees for varied uses” (Harris).
Benefits of Logging
Leaders in this industry uphold that logging is a necessary and fruitful business that meets many needs of society. Logging is an important practice as it is the primary source of lumber which is utilized as structural material for construction. The lumber or timber can also be converted into paper, a primary tool in creation, communication, and expression. Additionally, the logging industry provides many people with jobs all over the world. The main argument in favor of logging is that a service is being provided for a range of people and uses. There are some environmental risks, but there are sizeable benefits too.
Points Against Logging
The cutting down and removal of trees in forests and various landscapes can potentially devastate ecological systems. Invading different ecosystems runs the risk of displacing and even killing several species of plants and animals, thus leading to a loss in biodiversity. Environmental landscapes can also be altered due to the destruction and pollution. Because the levels of lumber being harvested are having to keep up with growing demand, the rate at which the trees are being cut down are surpassing the growth rate of new trees. It takes far more time for trees to grow than it does for them to be chopped down.
Working Together
Many lumber companies have heeded the insight and warnings of environmental activists, and have worked to develop practices that are aimed at preventing the annihilation of forests and protecting the environment of those forests while harvesting take place. Several “lumber companies have adopted what are known as best management practices, which prescribe methods for protecting the forest environment during logging” (Harris). For instance, “a buffer zone of 50 feet around streams is not logged in order to protect stream ecology; … trenches are dug at right angles across logging roads to divert water from running down the roads and eroding the soil; and skid trails are reseeded with grass after a logging operation has been completed” (Harris). These types of precautionary practices are a step in the right direction when it comes to paving the road for a sustainable lumbering network. The increased demand placed on lumber, however, proves to be the main obstacle in pursuit of sustainability.
My Position
I think that stricter state and federal regulations need to be developed and enforced when it comes to logging. Lumber companies should have to analyze and collect data about the environmental state of the landscapes and the species living in them before logging can commence. Furthermore, the data collected would have to be reviewed and submitted to state officials who would then decide whether or not the intended site could withstand the environmental impact that would accompany logging. If the aftermath of the logging is predicted to be too severe on the environment and its resident species, the lumber company would not be allowed to harvest lumber on the proposed site.
Citation(s)
Harris, P. Gregory. "Lumber Industry." Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia
2000. Microsoft Corporation. Web. 23 June 2011.
<http://autocww.colorado.edu/~toldy2/E64ContentFiles/IndustryMiningFuels/Lum
berIndustry.html>.
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