Ancient Forests Of The Pacific Northwest

Ancient Forests of the Pacific Northwest provides a global context for what is happening in the Pacific Northwest, analyzing the remaining ancient forest and the threats to it from atmospheric changes and logging. It shows how human tampering affects an ecosystem, and how the Pacific Northwest could become a model for sustainable forestry worldwide.

The Wilderness Society.

2011 Outstanding Title, University Press Books for Public and Secondary School Libraries Winner of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award Before Forks, a small town on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, became famous as the location for Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight book series, it was the self-proclaimed “Logging Capital of the World” and ground zero in a regional conflict over the fate of old-growth forests. Since Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist William Dietrich first published The Final Forest in 1992, logging in Forks has given way to tourism, but even with its new fame, Forks is still a home to loggers and others who make their living from the surrounding forests. The new edition recounts how forest policy and practices have changed since the early 1990s and also tells us what has happened in Forks and where the actors who were so important to the timber wars are now. For more information on the author to to: http://williamdietrich.com/

In this fully illustrated field guide, Larry Eifert introduces readers to the old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest, including Northern California's coast redwoods.Old-growth forests contain more than just the world's tallest trees. Interactions between trees, plants, insects, fungus, streams, fish, and animals create a unique and delicate ecosystem that develops over many hundreds of years. This unique guide includes maps and directions on where to find these ancient forests, plus a wealth of natural history information.

With their towering spruces and cedars, verdant groundcover and cloaks of mist, the temeperate rainforests of North American have long been a source of wonder and awe. Extending from northern California to southern Alaska, these immense and mysterious forests are home to a constellation of life that is unique on this planet.In this magnificant photographic collection, Graham Osborne's breathtaking images depict the many guise of the rainforest--gnarled tree trunks dripping with moss, the spires of Douglas firs reaching into the sky, waterfalls tumbling over time-worn rocks, ice-encased fern fronds in winter, scarlet maple leaves littering the ground in autumn, a burst of wildflowers along a river bank in spring.In his eloquent text, Wade Davis describes the scale and abundance of these rainforests, where redwoods reach nearly 120 meters and read cedars can be 6 metres or more across at the base. Davis also discusses the role of the rainforest in Native culture and mourns the loss of much of this ancient foest through overcutting and other shortsighted forestry practices.Together, Davis's powerful writing and Osborne's spectular photographs provide a stunning tribute to this rare and beautiful ecosystem, as well as a compelling plea to preserve it.

Old-growth forests represent a lofty ideal as much as an ecosystem—an icon of unspoiled nature, ecological stability, and pristine habitat. These iconic notions have actively altered the way society relates to old-growth forests, catalyzing major changes in policy and management. But how appropriate are those changes and how well do they really serve in reaching conservation goals? Old Growth in a New World untangles the complexities of the old growth concept and the parallel complexity of old-growth policy and management. It brings together more than two dozen contributors—ecologists, economists, sociologists, managers, historians, silviculturists, environmentalists, timber producers, and philosophers—to offer a broad suite of perspectives on changes that have occurred in the valuing and management of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest over the past thirty years. The book • introduces the issues and history of old-growth values and conservation in the Pacific Northwest; • explores old growth through the ideas of leading ecologists and social scientists; • addresses the implications for the future management of old-growth forests and considers how evolving science and social knowledge might be used to increase conservation effectiveness. By confronting the complexity of the old-growth concept and associated policy and management challenges, Old Growth in a New World encourages productive discussion on the future of old growth in the Pacific Northwest and offers options for more effective approaches to conserving forest biodiversity.