We have forgotten our historic native forests, yet Americans have spent billions of dollars identifying and preserving historic structures and artifacts. What the first European explorers saw were forests of amazing diversity and awe-inspiring vastness. They felt especially drawn to trees of immense size that grew everywhere in America and no longer existed in Europe. Forgotten and abused, what is left of this unique part of America's history is rapidly disappearing. We must act now to restore our historic forests or a vital part of the Nation's heritage will be gone forever.
Native forests covered 45% of America when European explorers arrived. Since that time, about 12% of our forests have been scraped away for cities and farms. Today, few of our remaining forests resemble their former glory and most of these are crumbling, battered, and burnt. Fire, insects, disease, decay, invasive non-native species, and development are rapidly destroying the last remnants of America's historic forests.
Of all the land use laws that Congress passed during the last 200 years, none of them, charges the government with the responsibility to restore examples of America's magnificent historic forests. To be sure, we have a system of national parks and monuments, but they protect spectacular scenery, natural wonders, and historic objects rather than historic forests. Moreover, Park Service policy favors leaving forests untouched rather than restoring their historic beauty. Similarly, national forests and other Federal lands produce wood, water, wildlife, recreation, and other goods and services, and they protect historic sites, but not historic forests. Likewise, wilderness provides places where people can find solitude in untouched, but not historic landscapes.
It is not too late. If we take swift action, we can recover many of our historic forests. There needs to be efforts undertaken that will restore examples of the historic forests that European explorers found irresistibly beautiful and grand. Try to picture Eastern hillsides in early summer that have the look of a recent snowfall created by the creamy flowers of the American chestnut just as they looked in the historic oak-chestnut forest. Think of seeing once more the vast longleaf pine forests of "stately trees on a grassy plain" that covered the Southeast. Imagine again seeing oak savannas along the edge of the Great Plains "extending beyond eyesight... covered with buffalo and groves of trees that appear like islands in the sea," or a Southwestern ponderosa pine forest that looked to early travelers like "an infinite colonnade."
America's historic forests were not only beautiful and sustainable, but the diversity and abundance of wildlife that lived in them far exceeds any modern forest. They also represented thousands of years of adaptation, and they existed during a period when the climate fluctuated in a manner similar to what is occurring today. Unlike forests from an earlier time, they can be easily documented using archeological materials, historical accounts, old photographs, early land surveys, and existing vegetation. Still, we cannot duplicate a historic native forest, but we can restore a forest that is virtually indistinguishable from the original.
Like tarnished silver that needs polishing to reveal the beauty underneath, our historic forests can come alive again to inspire this and future generations as they did those who came before us. Just as artisans restore and maintain historic buildings using the tools of their trade, foresters can use several centuries of experience to restore and sustain our historic forests.
Foresters have the knowledge to restore forests in ways that do not damage streams and soils, unlike wildfires. They can also help endangered species by bringing back the variety of habitats that existed in the historic forests where they thrived. Foresters can do this while keeping visible signs of management to a minimum. In short, foresters can use well-established tools and techniques to reverse the decline of our native forests and reclaim many of our historic forests.
Restoring our historic forests will improve the health and diversity of our forests, reduce threats from wildfire, provide local jobs, and generate revenue to lower the cost of management. More importantly, this will fulfill the need for our citizens to rediscover the wonder and beauty of the historic forests that helped to mold our Nations's spirit of enterprise and freedom. Restoring and sustaining historic native forests is a worthy goal for America.
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Professor of Forest Science at Texas A & M University, he is the author of the book, America's Ancient Forests published in 2000 by John Wiley & Sons. Dr. Bonnicksen holds a Ph.D and M.S. in Wildlife Resource Science and B.S. in Forestry. He has studied the ecology of ancient forests for over 30 years and has authored over 80 papers and articles on forest ecology & resource management.