The Timber Industry in the Pacific Northwest

The timber boom in the Pacific Northwest began in 1900 when Frederick Weyerhauser, along with fifteen partners purchased 900,000 acres of land from the Great Northern Railway.

During the early years, the industry had very little concern for the damage they were doing. They concentrated on how to maximize profit and production.

The United States Forestry Service’s first attempts at regulating the industry was to strip all “old growth” to allow for “new growth”, but actually did more harm than good. The new trees did not grow fast enough to replace the older trees being removed so the regulation had the opposite effect.

With the United States entry into World War II, any attempts at government regulation went by the wayside as the timber industry increased the production to meet the wartime timer demand. The invention of the gas powered chain saw and the availability of heavy equipment sped up the process even more.

One harmful effect caused by the removal of the old growth trees was the destruction of the habitat of the Northern Spotted Owl. However, it wasn’t until June, 1990 that this owl was placed on the threatened species list by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The plywood mill located in Lebanon, OR changed ownership 4 times between 1941 and
1985. In 1967 it was purchased by Champion International Corporation. In 1985, Champion decided that certain timber areas no longer profitable and shut down several operations, including the Lebanon mill, putting almost the entire town out of work. Regulations by the
United States Forestry Service did not become effective until the National Forest Management
Act of 1976. The significance of this act is that it mandated regulation of privately owned timber lands as well as government owned land. This act has also been amended several time to cover new technology for the industry.

While the United States Forestry Service finally did get enforceable regulations in place, the damage caused during the peak of the timber industry may take years, if ever to repair. The
Northern Spotted Owl remains on the threatened species list. It wasn’t until 2011 that a viable recovery plan was launched.

The Indutrial Revolution has caused immeasurable damage to the landscape, wildlife, and human life. Much more needs to done for us to be able to maintains a healthy lifestyle.

Appalachian Mining and its effect on Mining

The Appalachian region is a huge area of varied ecosystems, providing habitats to numerous form of wildlife. However, the invasion of the coal mining industry has changed that. The practice of mountaintop removal mining has in recent years, destroyed more than one million acres. There is also the problem of what to do with all the rock, soil, and other surface materials that are scooped up in order to reach the coal deposits underneath. This waste, called valley fill is being dumped into the valleys below. The United States Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) estimates that 2000 miles of Appalachian waterways have been buried and many more poisoned. The Clean Water Act in 2002, under the Bush Administration, valley fill was reclassified as allowable fill material. This caused a rapid increase in this type of mining, with horrific results. United States District Court Judge Charles H. Haden II summed it up: “If there is any life form that cannot acclimate to life deep in a rubble pile, it is eliminated. No effect on related environmental values are more adverse than obliteration. Under a valley fill, the water quality of the stream becomes zero. Because there is no stream, there is no water quality”. The burying and poisoning of these mountain streams has severely altered the fish habitat as well as the habitat of birds of prey who feed upon them. The Clean Water Protection Act (HR1837) was passed by the United States House of
Representatives in 2012, but the Senate failed to act. It was reintroduced to the House in May of
2013 and is currently sitting in a subcommittee, Water Resources and Environment. The mountaintop removal mining also destroyed forested areas. Many birds, including several different species of warblers, have all but vanished from the area. Non aquatic species have also suffered. An entire species of mayfly has completely disappeared and salamander populations have drastically reduced. The Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1977 contains no provisions for reforestation of areas stripped by mountaintop areas. The practice of mountaintop mining is extremely harmful. I can find no information on the wildlife whose populations have either been greatly reduced or completely disappeared from their Appalachian habitat. I have been unable to discover if they simply relocated, if they’ve been added to any protected, endangered or threatened species lists. The mining companies that still use mountaintop renewal must be required to reforest the timber areas they destroy and also cease the damage being caused to the waterways in the valleys below. Farming along the Mississippi River and its effects on the environment

The farming industry along the Mississippi River consists mainly of row crops with either such as corn and soy beans. Most of these farmers fertilize their crops with either conventional fertilizers or animal manure, which causes phosphorus and nitrogen to run off in the Mississippi River. These chemicals flow down river and eventually settle at the mouth of the
Gulf of Mexico. This causes several problems. One issue is that the nitrogen and phosphorus promotes the growth of algae. The algae absorb oxygen, which deprives other wildlife of needed oxygen. Beginning in 1998, the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has made attempts to get the states along the river to voluntarily place limits on the amounts of these chemicals flowing into waterways but only Illinois and Indiana have complied, and even then, their regulations only covers lakes, not the waterway that flow into the Mississippi River. Dead zones occur when oxygen levels in the water become low enough to stress or kill bottom dwellers, which causes fish to leave these areas. Dead zones have been an issue in the
Gulf of Mexico since the 1970’s. In 20111 when this article was written, dead zones were expected to break records both in size and damage caused. The dead zones also have a great impact on the fishing industry in the Gulf of Mexico.
When hypoxic conditions caused increased algae growth, the algae decrease the amount of other bottom dwelling plants, which effects other wildlife, fish especially, which suffers quantity loss and disruption of spawning and migration. This greatly decreases the catch for commercial fisherman causing a financial impact to the affected areas. One thing being done is grant money provided by the Mississippi River Basin Healthy
Watersheds Initiative. As of 2011, $320 million dollars in grants fund several programs. For
150,000 acres that participate in some of these programs, the phosphorus and nitrogen runoff has decreased almost 50%, but this is just drop in the bucket. The EPA, and other conservation groups need to become more active in pushing for legislation and/or regulations to greatly reduce the amount of agricultural chemicals running into waterways. Another way to help solve these problems is searching for other methods of crop fertilization that don’t include these harmful chemicals. The Industrial Revolution is a huge factor in the United States being the world leader that it is. In the beginning, people had no idea what its impact would be. Sadly, as the effect on countless ecosystems have come to life very little in being done to curb the damage. Our government definitely needs to step in and regulate industries that cause the damage. To cease and desist causing damage to the environment, to force them to assist in repairing the damage already done, and take measures to prevent future damage. References:

Animal Partnerships. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2016, from http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0776202.html

Ecological Impacts of Mountaintop Removal. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2016, from http://appvoices.org/end-mountaintop-removal/ecology/

Google Books. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2016, from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=wu5JLxbYZJMC&oi=fnd&pg=PA111&dq=competitive relationships in animals&ots=y7hwTj4SiD&sig=uHtR4wfXNE6AlLnULUxA8uy9-CA#v=onepage&q=competitive relationships in animals&f=false

Kaufman, L. (2011). Chemicals in Farm Runoff Rattle States on the Mississippi. Retrieved March 22, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/03/science/earth/03runoff.html?_r=0

SeaWeb - Ocean Briefing Book. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2016, from http://www.seaweb.org/resources/briefings/dead_zone.php

The Rape of Appalachia. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2016, from http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2006/05/appalachia200605