New Focus
It would appear that forests are finally having their day—and not a moment oo soon. Around the world, trees are dying at an alarming rate, besieged
by illegal logging, agricultural conversion,
wildfire, and drought. According to the
United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization, 13 million hectares of the
world’s forests are now lost to deforestation every year. In North America,
climate change, insect invasions,
and urban sprawl are altering and
shrinking suitable forest habitat
for critical wildlife species. Clearly,
forests need new conservation and
management strategies.
World leaders are taking notice.
Speaking at the Copenhagen climate summit last December, U.S.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
stressed the severity of the problem and the need to intervene.
“Protecting the world’s forests is
not a luxury,” he said. “It is a necessity” (USDA 2009).
In a very real sense, trees equal life
for the vast majority of the planet’s
terrestrial plant and animal species. In
states such as Illinois and Tennessee, for
example, roughly three-quarters of species
of conservation concern depend on forest
habitat (University of IL, TN Division of For-
estry). Because of the vital role that forests play
in preserving wildlife, wildlife professionals
are joining ranks as never before with forest-
ers, policymakers, NGOs, local communities, and
other nations to address and mitigate the threats
facing forests. Those efforts are leading to innovations
in forest management—but the challenge is daunting.
Mass Destruction.
Killed by mountain
pine beetles (inset),
lifeless brown
lodgepole pines mark
a path of devastation
across Wyoming and
Colorado, where the
bark-eating beetles
have destroyed more
than two million acres
of trees. It’s one of
the largest beetle
outbreaks ever to hit
the region.
Bracing for Climate Change
As the changing climate ushers in severe wildfires, insect
infestations, drought, and shifts in phenology, forestry
professionals are preparing to weather the storm. In 2009
the USDA Forest Service (USFS) received $1.15 billion
from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
Mounting threats lead to
