Conflict in Our National Forests

About the Book

CONFLICT IN OUR NATIONAL FORESTS

This book was written to examine the change in the public’s view of the Forest Service over the past half century. Today, instead of being a respected and science based agency, the Service is often portrayed as a politically controlled bureaucracy, trusted by neither the environmental organizations nor the timber industry. The author attempts to show how and why this happened.

Every new administration has created policy changes that have altered how the agency functions, and what it is allowed to do. Whether policy changes were made for sound valid reasons, or simply to reward special interest groups that helped them get elected, the resulting changes have often created serious economic and social upheaval, both to the Forest Service employees and their families, and the economic well being of the publics who use these forests.

In easy to understand language, the author describes how policies and methods have changed to keep up with new findings in environmental science, and the changing social demands of the using public. In the process, you will learn about how the Forest Service employees use traditional and new forest management techniques in planning programs to to protect our forests. He concludes by offering some possible solutions to bring the National Forest system and its bounty of resources and ecosystems back to their rightful central place in our public lands.

This is a valuable reference for all who use and love our National Forests.

About the Author

Robert Schramek is a retired forester living in Port Townsend, Washington. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service from 1953 to his retirement in 1985. Other than some limited consultant work, he has not been active in forest management, nor written on the subject, other than some letters to local papers, and remarks on various forest plans. His work for the Agriculture Department’s Office of Inspector General in 1978 – 1982 resulted in citations of appreciation for saving over a million dollars in costs to the Department.