A Contract with the Earth

8. Renewing the Natural World

8 Renewing the Natural World Few are altogether deaf to the preaching of pine trees. Their sermons on the mountains go to our hearts; and if people in general could be got into the woods, even for once, to hear the trees speak for themselves, all di≈culties in the way of forest preservation would vanish. john muir This page intentionally left blank 127 john muir, for most of his adult life, experienced nature in spiritual overtones. His intense advocacy for the Sierra landscape culminated in his role as the leader of a morally inspired preservation movement based on aesthetics . He and his followers resisted e√orts to use the land in western national parks and forest reserves. Muir, the founding president of the Sierra Club, was particularly adamant about destructive activities such as grazing rights for sheepherders. He favored public ownership of forest preserves, where all cutting and economic activities were prohibited. He even favored using the armed forces to enforce environmental law. That sheep consumed and trampled forest seedlings incited Muir to label them ‘‘hoofed locusts.’’ In hindsight, it is easy to recognize the perceived value of forest aesthetics. Beyond their economic value, forests also provide opportunities to experience the psychological e√ect of pristine nature. However, with the inexorable advance of the urban realm, the defense of forested lands assumes a greater urgency as we strive to sustain the highest-quality standards for our nation’s air, water, and land. Many of our most populated cities are becoming barren hardscapes, devoid of green space, urban forests, or protected parks, which contributes to our growing estrangement from nature. Beyond the e√ects of deforestation on our psychological well-being, the loss of a shade-giving canopy and functional watersheds can compromise our physical health. Visionary environmental psychologists such as Robert Sommer have warned about the A Contract with the Earth 128 implicit connection between ‘‘hard architecture’’ and behavioral pathology, so we need to consider carefully ecological factors that soften our living environments. The world’s forested ecosystems are verdant masterpieces , worthy of appreciation and teeming with inspiration , but they are more than that. Our forests also contain the arteries that deliver essential nutrients. Human health, indeed the health of all living things, depends on a functional , nurturing ecosystem; water, soil, plants, and animals form a complex web of mutual codependency. By protecting the Sierra mountain ecosystem so explorers could enjoy it, Muir also reached out to protect its capacity to flower and regenerate. In the modern world, a century after Muir’s time, we have witnessed world deforestation on a massive scale. From 1991 to 2000, deforestation in the Amazon increased 35 percent, an area the size of Portugal, with most of the forest losses due to conversion to pastures . The diminished forest that remains intact worldwide is the last refuge for desperate urban colonists who seek respite in its remote solitude and comfort in the cacophonous din of its splendid biodiversity. American forests are healthier than most. America has more trees now than in 1900. Today, about 33 percent of the nation is forested; a serious comeback from a low of 20 percent at the turn of the twentieth century. One-third of the forested land is classified as ‘‘primary forest,’’ the most biodiverse type. When the total rate of habitat conversion is calculated from 1990 to 2005, U.S. forests actu- Renewing the Natural World 129 ally lost 0.8 percent of their woodland habitat. Given conditions in the rest of the world, stability may seem like a reasonable outcome, but we can do better at home. We can also take comfort in the fact that tree stock has increased in 22 of the world’s 50 most densely forested countries since 1990. In fact there are really two world trends in forestation; a total of 69 countries where forests are increasing and 92 where forests are decreasing, according to data gathered during the fifteen-year interval from 1990 to 2005. The most troubled regions continue to be Indonesia , Nigeria, the Philippines, and Brazil. Based on research by Sedjo, Kauppi, and Ausubel, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, these trends confirm the relationship between a nation’s per capita income and forest expansion. Wealthy countries are steadily increasing their investment in forests. The October 2006 issue of National Geographic highlighted many of the most essential national parks around...