Talk:Deforestation in the United States

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This article is horrible.

It opens with a bullshit claim, that there is ongoing deforestation in the US, despite the fact that it clearly cites a reference showing unchanged reserves in almost 100 years. It follows up with another deceptive reference to old growth deforestation (not the topic of this article) and an image that shows tragic deforestation (again, only tragic because it's an old-growth image in a deforestation article).

Anyway, I'm too lazy to fix it anymore, someone else can do it. :P

Addition of Deforestation in Old-growth forests, effects on various specialist species

This page has little to no information on deforestation in old-growth forests, particularly in the pacific northwest region. I hope to elaborate on this problem in the northwest, as well as highlight specific specialist species which are most negatively effected by deforestation in terms habitat loss/fragmentation, niche interruption, food web interruption, and the relationship between deforestation and global climate change. Greengirl25 (talk) 20:23, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

Deforestation pre-Pilgrims

Really don't know how this fits in, but would be good if someone who knew what they were doing integrated or rebutted information about pre-pilgrim deforestation....

• http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/335168/description/Columbus_arrival_linked_to_carbon_dioxide_drop
• http://phys.org/news/2011-10-team-european-ice-age-due.html
• http://www.cracked.com/article_19864_6-ridiculous-lies-you-believe-about-founding-america.html // yeah, cracked...but....

Kaolin fire (talk) 18:09, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

Assessment comment

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The picture associated with this article is misleading. The picture actually shows "Area of Virgin Forest", not deforestation. Virgin forest is defined as forest area that has not previously been harvested. Deforestation refers to the removal of a forest because of a change in land use. These concepts are distinct. All this picture really shows is that people have settled across the country and logged the forests. It does not tell us the extent of the logging, or any changes in the land use (i.e. still a forest or now a farm, etc.). As such, and as much as I like the picture, I think it is misleading next to the header: "Deforestation in the US". Likewise, it is also misleading to write below this picture: "Loss of old growth forests in the US." While it is extremely likely that old growth forests have been lost owing to harvesting of virgin forests, it is not the case the logging of a virgin forest must be equal to loss of old growth forests. After all, the extent of the harvest is not clear: were one or two trees taken out, or was the entire old-growth forest clear cut? As the second sentence notes: "These maps represent only virgin forest lost," which can be further interpreted as "These maps represent forest area that has not been harvested, since 1620." This picture does not refer to deforestation. Moruobai (talk) 15:28, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

Last edited at 15:28, 9 July 2009 (UTC). Substituted at 13:08, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

Some planning to update article

This article needs some updates to remove some outdated information and provide perspective on recent trends. The statement regarding continual forest area decrease from 1963 is not accurate in the recent past, I'm still trying to find a reference to determine the minimum since 1963 and when it was reached. Forest area as reported by the Forest Service has been relatively stable to slightly increasing over the past two decades from 747 mil acres in the 1997 Forest Service, Forest Resources of the United States Report to 749 in a 2000 summary to 751 mil acres in the 2010 National Report on Sustainable Forests. (1997) http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/program-features/rpa/docs/gtr_nc_219_1997_RPA.pdf (2000) http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/slides/major-trends.pdf (2010) http://www.fs.fed.us/research/sustain/national-report.php The 2000 summary cites the lowest forest acreage in 1920 as 735 mil acres, something not shared in the article and notable although I'd like to find a better source than that Forest Service slide PDF, it cites its sources I just haven't dug to the right one yet. Just starting some work, gathering sources and trying to clean up a little. Welcome comments and suggestions to help. Phil (talk) 11:31, 24 September 2016 (UTC)

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OK, so, we all know that Big Chungus lives in B.C, which is British Columbia, also for Big Chungus.

Savannahs are not forests

The maps shows supposedly illustrate "virgin forests." That is simply false. They show areas where virgin wood could be obtained. That is a huge difference. Most of the Southeastern United States, for instance, was Savannah, not forest as shown. Forests are areas where trees grow sufficiently densely so as to be prevent direct sunlight from reaching the ground. Savannahs are grasslands where trees are present, but not so closely that their canopies prevent sunlight from reaching the ground in sufficient amounts so as to prevent grass from growing.

Rather than deforestation, the primary influence of humans in the 19th to 20th centuries has been to convert Savannahs into forests, except where they create suburban laws, which tend to rather like Savannahs in that they are grass with trees for shade.

Impacts on climate change

For some reason this article doesn't mention the largest issue facing the world as a result of deforestation. Forests are natures carbon sequestration. They absorb CO2 and hold it. We've stupidly reduced our overall forest sizes while vastly increasing our carbon output. It's fine to cut forests for construction as long as you realize that you have to actually replenish it. Most responsible forestry here in the US does that, though we're clearing tree's for home's, businesses, roads, etc. That is not being replenished. We need millions of acres of new forest along with attempts to reduce out own output. Not just here in the US, but worldwide. 2601:600:9B80:31F3:9D18:C02A:5FF5:B326 (talk) 22:33, 27 October 2019 (UTC)

Evaluation

The article was short and lacking certified citations throughout the text. The talk section, though brief, discussed factual inaccuracies of specific terminology in the article and suggested more relevant information be included, specifically regarding the effects deforestation has on climate change. It's obvious that this work is unfinished, but the last edits made were in December of 2020 so there might be more relevant information now than in previous versions. The article overall seems promising, with multiple links to other Wiki pages included, but there needs to be more text and more solid sources. Ofeuch1 (talk) 23:45, 20 January 2021 (UTC)

The evaluation above is a student assignment as part of Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Louisiana State University/Environmental History Seminar (Spring 2021). Schazjmd (talk) 01:10, 21 January 2021 (UTC)

Evaluation

The article was lacking some information such as the effects that deforestation had on the U.S. over time. Consider focusing on how the concept of deforestation, explaining its contributions to habitat loss that you've mention. In addition, explain factors that may have led to deforestation in the U.S. J-smoothe06 (talk) 18:33, 20 September 2022 (UTC)