The election result is of more than passing interest to anyone involved in the forest products industry in the US, as Bill Keil’s article on the outlook for the country’s wood supply shows.The Clinton years have seen increasing regulation of that wood supply, largely as a result of vocal environmental pressure groups. In one response, the outgoing president has tried to create ‘national monuments’ which would lead to the banning of commercial logging activities in those areas.
Some people think a George W Bush presidency would be likely to allow more logging of larger trees than a Gore administration. Only time will tell if they are right.
However, it appears that a crisis is looming for US forests with a dangerous build-up of dead and fallen material presenting both a fire and insect hazard. This summer’s catastrophic fires indicate the possible consequences of inaction on this front.
Whoever wins the protracted battle for the White House, it is to be hoped that the well-proven benefits of forestry to the environment, and the indisputable merits of wood as a raw material, will in future receive at least as much attention and consideration as do the allegations of its detractors.
