However, the financial situation of timber companies discourages reforestation and encourages the sale and conversion of productive timber land. The U.S. Forest Service recognizes these many functions in their multiple-use concept of management. A variety of activities are allowed to use National Forest land without destroying it. These are several possible ways to preserve the protect timber land. Lumber can be obtained with minimum environmental impact and reforestation afterwards.
Tax laws can weaken the economic pressures to convert timber land.
Urban development can be regulated, limited or prohibited. Precipitation ranges from 18 inches per year along the Sacramento River to 90 inches in the mountains. Water resources are essential to our existence in many different ways. We consume water directly. Water is required for the growth of food crops, livestock, forests, fish and wildlife.