Tree Farmer - March/April 2011 - (Page 44)

Bambi & cornucopia: sTeve Carl Tree farmers and other renewable resource advocates need to understand public perceptions, because the ability to manage forestlands on any reasonable scale in the future depends on public acceptance of the concept of “working forests.” based on experience studying forests and communicating knowledge, we offer some historical context for current attitudes and possible ways to engage the public. Despite their love for forests, most people know little about them, and this lack of knowledge hinders support for stewardship to sustain the forest’s many uses and values. In contrast, Tree Farmers and others who work with forests understand forest ecology, and regard use of renewable resources as common sense. They favor using wood and forest biomass when feasible in preference to the nonrenewable materials and energy sources that dominate our national consumption. They wonder why politicians and news media tend to ignore forest biomass and wood products when discussing green energy and building materials. Instead of being based on forest ecology or reasoned understanding, public perceptions of forests appear grounded in the 19th-century Romantic era and reinforced ever since. We characterize these perceptions as the “Bambi” and “Cornucopia” syndromes; although the concepts evoked differ, we believe they are linked in a widely held view of forests and natural resources. sharing your experiences by Dealing with the Myths arno & fiedler Today Americans are largely an urban/ suburban people, both in residence and culture. Not surprisingly, few know about the forest products we use, where they are grown, and how they are processed and delivered. Indeed, we live in larger homes and use more wood and paper products per capita than any other people in the world. Yet many Americans have a near-mystical reverence for forests as a last bastion of “unspoiled nature,” and they oppose any management activity that threatens their idyllic vision. This reverence for forests is not new. In his book Mythic Woods, author Jonathan Roberts points out that forests “have been accorded mystical status in folklore and worshipped in countless ancient religions.” Our purpose in this article is to help Tree Farmers expand the public’s appreciation of our working forests. We acknowledge the importance of maintaining some of the forest landscape in natural areas and designated wilderness, but we believe the public also needs to understand and value the forests that provide the renewable resources we use daily – and that these different views of forests need not be mutually exclusive. The Bambi Syndrome From ancient times, humans revered and feared nature as a source of both sustenance and hazard. Renaissance-era science attempted to explain the workings of nature largely to benefit human existence. Then in the late 18th and early 19th centuries the Romantic era developed in literature, art, and music as a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature. Romanticists portrayed nature unspoiled by civilization as sublime. This image is introduced to Americans in school through the literature of Emerson, Thoreau, and Longfellow. Countless Romantic era writers from James Fenimore Cooper to John Muir and modern counterparts such as Bill McKibben (The End of Nature) have exalted untamed nature. Romanticera artists, including Winslow Homer and Albert Bierstadt, painted embellished natural scenes. This genre was expanded in the 20th century by flawless, carefully staged photographs of majestic nature in National Geographic magazine and coffee table books. 44 International Year of Forests, 2011 Tree Farmer MARCH/APRIL 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Tree Farmer - March/April 2011

Tree Farmer - March/april 2011
Contents
Cover Story
A Farm Bill Progress Report
West Point Tree Farm Profile
Ties to the Land
Land of Enchantment
2011 National Tree Farmer Convention
Wildlife Matters
Sharing Your Experiences

Tree Farmer - March/April 2011