Meese?
Posted on 4/1/2005, 5:49:37 AM by Crackingham
The bad news is that a new United Nations report says the world's coming to an end.
But, first, some good news: America's doing great!
Seriously, forests are breaking out all over America. New England has more forests since the Civil War. In 1880, New York State was only 25 percent forested. Today it is more than 66 percent. In 1850, Vermont was only 35 percent forested. Now it's 76 percent forested and rising. In the South, more land is covered by forest than at any time in the last century. In 1936 a study found that 80 percent of piedmont Georgia was without trees. Today nearly 70 percent of the state is forested. In the last decade alone, America has added more than 10 million acres of forestland.
There are many reasons for America's arboreal comeback. We no longer use wood as fuel, and we no longer use as much land for farming. Indeed, the amount of land dedicated to farming in the United States has been steadily declining even as the agricultural productivity has increased astronomically. There are also fewer farmers. Only 2.4 percent of America's labor force is dedicated to agriculture, which means that fewer people live near where the food grows.
The literal greening of America has added vast new habitats for animals, many of which were once on the brink of extinction. Across the country, the coyote has rebounded (obviously, this is a mixed blessing, especially for roadrunners). The bald eagle is thriving. In Maine there are more moose than any time in memory. Indeed, throughout New England the populations of critters of all kinds are exploding. In New Jersey, Connecticut and elsewhere, the black bear population is rising sharply. The Great Plains host more buffalo than at any time in more than a century.
And, of course, there's the mountain lion. There are probably now more of them in the continental United States than at any time since European settlement. This is bad news for deer, which are also at historic highs, because the kitties think "they're grrrreat!" In Iowa the big cat was officially wiped out in 1867, but today the state is hysterical about cougar sightings. One of the most annoying tics of the media is always to credit the notion that human-animal encounters are the result of mankind "intruding" on America's dwindling wild places. This is obviously sometimes the case. But it is also sometimes the case that America's burgeoning wild places are intruding on us.
Anyway, there's more good news, of course. According to Gregg Easterbrook, air pollution is lower than it has been in a generation, drinking water is safer, and our waterways are cleaner.
America's environmental revival is a rich and complicated story with many specific exceptions, caveats and, of course, setbacks. But the overarching theme is pretty simple: The richer you get, the healthier your environment gets. This is because rich societies can afford to indulge their environmental interests and movements. Poor countries cannot.
Hey, we got Bobcats round here!
I'm thinking of bringing in a bunch of wiener dogs. Yum!
Might have missed in the blizzard of information, but.
There are now more deer in North America than when the White man first set foot on the continent. So drive carefully, or eat more venison.
Just damn, I did miss it, as found on second read.
Great article. Jonah missed one of the major reasons for the comeback of the forests, however -- the replacement of the horse by the internal combustion engine. Once horses were no longer required for hauling people and goods, the need for pastureland was reduced dramatically.
AHHH logic, no, no, no. Facts are not allowed in environmental debate!
Ping farmfriend, you might find this interesting
I even have kudzu creeping up the walls of my house here in central Illinois. No longer just a southern nuisance.
planting a ping seed
BTTT.
Its because of global warming and the animals are cuddling more. Plus the ice caps are melting giving more water for growing trees. Nature is so simple.
Meese?
LOL!
All of this "farmland" and to think the American Farmland Trust has spent millions of our tax dollars to convince us that the American farm is on the brink of extinction, and so the reason they are in our Northern Michigan County pushing for an ordinance to purchase development rights from the farmer in order to keep a farm there "for ever." Too bad there will be no one to farm it, but what the hell, state owned farms worked in Russia right? Or, is this just another land grab? Hey, you decide!
I can't keep up with all of the lies going on around my County, one says we have gained farmland. Another enviro-nut screams the "sky is falling" and so the government needs to purchase all private land, because Americans are too stupid to know how to work and preserve their own private land.
Now I read that we have more forested land in America than in the last 100 years. The Township just redesignated our 500 acres of land from "timber cut over" to "residential" thus doubling our property taxes, and, now we can no longer make maple syrup on our private property because you are not allowed to "farm" your property on residential property! To hell with the fact that our family has made maple syrup on the same property for more than 75 years!
O'well, America is destroying the earth, and chicken little is still screaming the "sky is falling!"
Aint it great to be an American, land of the free, home of the brave? Have a very nice day!
We will have to create a new scare, obesity !
Treemendous news
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