Wars in the Woods: The Rise of Ecological Forestry in America

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 320 pages
• Published by: University of Pittsburgh Press
• Edition: 1st Edition December 28, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0822959402
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0822959403
• Book Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Weighs: 14.4 ounces

Product Review
"The book's most important contribution is its comprehensive and critical portrayal of interactions among political actors in forest policy making and management at federal and state levels. A critical, hard-hitting, and feisty book."
--Journal of Forestry



"Samuel P. Hays is one of the founders of conservation history. This work maintains his high standard of scholarship while presenting a history of a previously unexamined area, ecological forestry."
--Journal of the West



"A very thorough, extensively researched, meticulously referenced, and well-written book. . . . Highly recommended."
--Choice

Product Description
Wars in the Woods looks at the conflicts that have developed over the preservation of forests in America, and how government agencies and advocacy groups have influenced the management of forests and their resources for more than a century. Samuel Hays provides an astute analysis of manipulations of conservation law that have touched off a battle between what he terms “ecological forestry” and “commodity forestry.” Hays also reveals the pervading influence of the wood products industry, and the training of U.S. Forest Service to value tree species marketable as wood products, as the primary forces behind forestry policy since the Forest Management Act of 1897. 

Wars in the Woods gives a comprehensive account of the many grassroots and scientific organizations that have emerged since then to combat the lumber industry and other special interest groups and work to promote legislation to protect forests, parks, and wildlife habitats. It also offers a review of current forestry practices, citing the recent Federal easing of protections as a challenge to the progress made in the last third of the twentieth century.

Hays describes an increased focus on ecological forestry in areas such as biodiversity, wildlife habitat, structural diversity, soil conservation, watershed management, native forests, and old growth. He provides a valuable framework for the critical assessment of forest management policies and the future study and protection of forest resources.



Reader Reviews
By the title of this book you might assume it's an esoteric academic treatise, and it is. But Samuel Hays has also delivered an exceptionally useful examination of environmental regulations and shifting politics regarding the history of forest protection in the United States. Granted, the first half of the book is a slog, with a dry history of the two main schools of forestry theory. These are commodity forestry, in which forests are managed as storehouses for construction materials and consumer products; and ecological forestry, which advocates the management of forest ecosystems for overall environmental protection. Hays delivers an undercurrent of sly skepticism toward the proponents of commodity forestry - typically industrial concerns and the politicians who support them, though he could have gone farther in reporting on lobbying and campaign contributions. The second half of the book is stronger as Hays discusses the scientific strengths of ecological forestry, the supporters of which are hampered by poor funding, a dispersed volunteer structure, and a lack of political influence (especially amidst the vehement pro-industry bias of the current power regime). Of special interest for some readers is Hays' in-depth case study of developments in Pennsylvania. I have had some volunteer involvement in these events, and can attest to the accuracy of Hays' coverage of political trends and bureaucratic hurdles. Despite the somewhat impenetrable academic delivery, this book ultimately prevails as a very useful primer on the workings of environmental laws and the challenges faced by concerned citizens. [~doomsdayer520~] Comment | | (Report this)