For Professor Anthony

Forests, as natural common resources, support human life in different aspects. Timber is a product of the forests. The ideas that surround the timbering process from the forests have changed over time. At first, the forests were thought to be inexhaustible. People saw the vast land covered with forest and thought that even if they cut down the trees, there was no way they would exhaust them. However, for the people living in the 21st century, the idea of inexhaustibility has been eroded severely (Princen, 2005). If all individuals used forests according to their own interest, the forests would be depleted, and tragedy of the commons would likely occur. The writer tries to delineate the ways in which lumber companies can make profits without negatively affecting the natural resource. The author shows the different ways to improve sustainability and maintain aesthetics of the environment and natural resources in the realm of the timber industry. Comment by Teacher: repetitive Comment by Teacher: Needs introduction/definition Comment by Teacher: Of what? Introduce the book and the writer Comment by Teacher: The author showed how the company did these things

In his analysis, the writer focuses on the effect of The Pacific Lumber Company in exploring sustainable use of forests, and especially A.S. Murphy’s time. A.S. Murphy of The Pacific Lumber Company (TPL) started the paradigm shift. Murphy accepted the exhaustibility of forests and rejected the unlimited exploitation of forests. He believed that the land should not be abandoned after the trees had been cut. He brought the idea of replacing the trees cut by planting others. The idea of the writer is that the forests are exhaustible and that there are ways in which the exhaustion of forests can be avoided without stopping timbering fully. For example, one way is keeping the rates of timbering below the rate of forest regeneration (Princen, 2005). The carrying capacity of any natural resource affects its ability to endure usage by the society, hence its sustainability. Comment by Teacher: This makes it sound like Murphy invented reforestation – you could add more context by adding that planting became a regular practice of the company under Murphy’s control. Comment by Teacher: repetitive Comment by Teacher: This needs to be tied to the reading

A.S. Murphy had a different idea about timbering; his ideas were informed by the emerging realities about forest use. The idea was that some trees were rare and felling them would fade them away from the face of the earth. An example of these trees is the redwood that led to the formation of Save-the-Redwoods League. Another approach that was used by Murphy to save the forests was reforestation. The company went ahead to buy seed and seedlings to plant in the deforested areas especially along the roads. People wanted to travel through forested areas without having the sight of bare land and tree stumps. TPL cleared stumps and planted acres of redwood, cedar, spruce, white fir and Douglas fir (Princen, 2005). The writer believes this was a good approach to saving the forests. Comment by Teacher: awkward Comment by Teacher: This topic was already touched on in the previous paragraph

Another way of saving the trees was selective logging. Here no more than 70% of the trees were cut. The immature and the seed trees were left. Murphy accepted and promoted selective logging unlike other loggers in the region. He understood the concept of Fritz that the quality of lumber would be improved if only mature trees were logged, leaving the immature trees as forest. Murphy employed the idea in a rather easy way as others would view. The aim was to cut the second growth trees and leave the young and the old as the old were poor quality lumber and sprouted to other trees much quicker (Princen, 2005). The young trees would not produce useful timber. This process helps to strengthen the ability of the forests to endure human use. Comment by Teacher: Advice? Comment by Teacher: Who? Needs introduction. The takeaway was also that the second growth trees were better quality due to a lack of competition Comment by Teacher: awkward Comment by Teacher: Repetitive

The writer has good ideas including selective harvesting, reforestation, and keeping timbering rates lower than regeneration rates. The writer also looks into the importance of giving back to the society. In the analysis of the ideas put forth by the writer, they are agreeable with. The ideas are way in line with the objective of saving the environment and the society. The sustainability of the forests has gone down, and there is need to save the forests for the future generations as well. The earlier approaches by the timbermen destroyed the carrying capacity of the natural forests. In order to increase this, afforestation is called for. The ideas of the author show the wellbeing of the nation in relation to forestry, giving a valuable picture of progress (National Audit Office, 2015). The promotion of sustainable business practices, such as those adopted by TPL, show a valuable picture of progress by incorporating the wellbeing of the nation into their mission. Comment by Teacher: Doesn’t make sense Comment by Teacher: Informal language, sentence reads better without it Comment by Teacher: informal Comment by Teacher: ? Comment by Teacher: Overwhelmed? Comment by Teacher: confusing

Reference

Antony, J. R., & Lal, S. B. (2013). Forestry Principles And Applications. Scientific Publishers.