For over a century, the U.S. forest products industry guaranteed a steady supply of raw material to its sawmills and paper mills by owning millions of acres of forest land, while also providing important habitat for wildlife, clean air and water, and opportunities to recreate on these lands. In 1988, the sale of nearly a million acres of former Diamond International paper company lands in northern New England grabbed public attention, but this sale has been dwarfed by the recent sale of more than five million acres by International Paper to two investor groups. These sales signify a sea-change in the ownership of vast tracts of forestland throughout the country, but especially in the east, that stands to permanently alter vast areas of private woodlands.
Half of all U.S. timberland has changed hands in the past decade, with much of it being purchased by timber or real estate investment groups that are often inclined to subdivide or cut heavily to maximize return on investment. We can no longer take for granted that these timber company lands will continue to provide the ecological, economic and recreational benefits that many local communities have enjoyed for generations.
In 1981, U.S. publicly-traded forest products companies owned about 58 million acres of timberland nationwide; by 2005 they owned less than 21 million acres, and sales continue at a rapid pace. In Maine, where the forest products industry once owned more than half the state, Canada-based J.D. Irving is the last remaining large-scale industrial owner. Also, the largest subdivision in the history of Maine has been proposed on former Plum Creek Timber company lands in the fabled Moosehead Lake region.
Conservation groups have been able to negotiate deals to protect some of these timber company lands as they come on the market. Sadly, there just isn’t enough funding available to conserve more than a small portion of these lands, resulting in an enormous missed opportunity.
Double Whammy from Development Sprawl
Development sprawl is reaching deeper and deeper into our last remaining forest, especially in the already densely-populated east. Growing development pressures are expected to consume 44 million acres of private forests by 2030, according to a recent report by the U.S. Forest Service called “Forests on the Edge.” The Eastern U.S. holds most of the remaining private forest land, as well as 15 of the most threatened forested watersheds in the nation.
Development sprawl and timber company land sales underscore the threats our forests face, but they also offer opportunities to conserve some of the most important forests and open spaces that remain. When timber company lands come on the market, a window opens to purchase these forests or development rights. The most ecologically sensitive areas could as easily be purchased for conservation as for investment. Widespread public awareness of the threats posed by development sprawl has led to overwhelming support for state and local ballot measures to finance open space programs.
Needs & Opportunities Up – Conservation Funding Down
As the needs for greater conservation funding goes up, tracking nicely with public support, and as the opportunities to acquire lands mount, federal funding is going in the opposite direction. Funding for the most important federal programs designed to preserve threatened forests, primarily the Land and Water Conservation Fund and Forest Legacy, are being slashed or are stagnating. In his fiscal 2007 budget, President Bush proposed a paltry $85 million for LWCF, the lowest level in over 30 years and well short of the $900 million Congress has authorized the program to receive each year for federal, state and local parks and recreation projects. This despite the fact that LWCF has its own funding source in the royalty payments from offshore oil drilling leases, which are intended to be used for such conservation programs. Furthermore, the president proposed $61.5 million for Forest Legacy this year, but states requested over $200 million from the program to conserve private forest lands threatened by development or timber cutting.
A substantial investment over the next 10 years to permanently preserve large blocks of intact forestland from fragmentation and conversion would reap dividends for generations. Unfortunately, this “limited-time offer” coincides with shrinking federal conservation funding budgets. Congress needs to increase its commitment to preserving these lands by providing at least $220 million to LWCF and $80 million to Forest Legacy this year.
