Newsgroups: ca.environment
Subject: _Oregon's_Ancient_Forests_ : an independent review
From: pascal@netcom.com (The Ghost In The Machine)
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 06:26:39 GMT
Followup-To: ca.environment
Distribution: ca
Organization: The Free State of Dis
Keywords: timber industry old growth redwood walk guide map
Summary: a not-so-brief review of an great guide to old growth forests


Many of you are perhaps like me, in that you have read with interest of
the Redwood Summer activities, of Judi Bari's being bombed, of old growth
forests being levelled in the service of strictly short-term interests.

But perhaps you are also like me, in that your knowledge of the areas is
less than total, and specifics hard to come by.

While shopping for solistice presents for friends and family, I happened
across what appears to be an excellent guide which nicely fills this gap
in my knowledge, and I'd like to share it with the Net.

I do this with a certain amount of trepidation, since it could result in
a stampede of tourists turning the whole realm into another Yellowstone -
but I trust in the distances involved, as well as the overall inclination
on the part of Netters to avoid crowds, to offset this potential.

Personally, I plan to visit the areas named over the months ahead, mostly
during weekdays, mostly on foot or bicycle if possible, having as little
impact on the area as possible. This seems to be an appropriate response,
and limiting roads within these areas or allowing them to decay into little
more than fire roads might additionally help protect these areas.

Telling all your friends about this neat book and organizing bus trips up
there probably will not. ( I suppose some will debate this but I think an
education is not something one can acquire from a tour bus. ) But taking
them up there in small groups using this book as a guide might do well for
educational purposes and eliciting an appreciation on the part of friends.

				-=*=-

Anyhow, the book is called _Oregon's Ancient Forests_, by Wendell Wood,
under the auspices of the Oregon Natural Resources Council. It's copyright
1991, ISBN 0-9624877-9-1 ... essentially, the book opens with a map of
Oregon, with the various ecosystems shaded across the state. By selecting
the park(s) which correspond to the approximate area one plans to visit,
one can then look up each of the parks in the table of contents - they're
listed by park, and all together - and read more about each microclimate.

Each entry includes a map of the local area, as well as specific data you
may find useful with respect to the road conditions ( which is relevant,
I would expect, when you take into account the tendency towards rain and
mud on the part of certain portions of Oregon - conditions which may well
correspond to almost every microclimate one visits, I now realize ).

Perhaps one to two hundred such microenvironments are described in this
handy - albeit thick - handbook ... as well as useful information on the
details of the local environment, consequences of clearcutting and other
controversial 'management' practices, and a fair amount of hard science,
useful when arguing at cocktail parties ( and cybernetic analogues ).

Also provided are a list of native Oregon trees, a selected list of
state and federal contact points for information and feedback with respect
to land use policies, and a considerably detailed list of materials to
read for further information - essentially, an ecologist's dream, thick
with papers on soil chemistry and pine needle microclimates and analyses
on biodiversity.	(-:

It's a great book, all proceeds go to the ONRC, it's a great entry guide
to the state of Oregon, and it's a very educational book, too. I picked up
my copy at a bookstore on 9th Avenue, in San Francisco, but I'd guess you'd
be able to get it anywhere. Enjoy !!


-- blaise


-- 

	"It is obligatory, within the limits of capability, to commend the
	 good and forbid evil."     _Kitab_Adab_al-Muridin_, by Suhrawardi
				pascal@netcom.com
Newsgroups: ca.environment