To Work With The Forest (1970s)

to work with the forest a film from the Society of American Foresters to work in the forest is to work in a peaceful place to work in the forest is to work in a place that's tranquil and unhurried a place that's removed from the the bustle and the noise and the confusion of everyday [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] life it's always been that way 3/4 of the forest lands Columbus found are still here peaceful and unhurried but there's a paradox the forests seem to have changed very little but the understanding the managing the practice of Forestry that's changed a great [Music] deal [Music] to work in the forest is quiet work to work with the forest the Southern Pine the Western fur the Eastern hardwood the California Redwood to work with these and the others that's a difficult and complex job the idea of forest management first took Route here in the mountains of North Carolina the class of 1906 at the builtmore forest school it was the first School in this country the founder was Dr Carl shank he ran the school and taught classes 6 days a week in 27 different subjects he even wrote the textbooks most of them Mornings in the classroom afternoons in the woods the school drove home the point that forestry is a lot more than just counting and cutting the trees even at the turn of the century they recognized the value of intensive [Music] management as I understand it then uh you started uh a sample capability area delineation with a Quad sier City quad is that right right and how is it going okay what we've done is we've taken that quad as the first one to test out the process that we've used The Bu more students would hardly recognize far management today Jerry Larson is one of a growing number of women in the profession she's Deputy supervisor of the Tahoe National Forest in California and she recognizes as any Forester does that the job involves much more than being in the woods or conducting a staff meeting a very important part of the job of the forest manager is working with local governmental agencies and jurisdictions and the private land owners who have land within the National Forest these agencies and people have objectives and programs of their own and one must get out into the community become involved in community activities and organizations get the sense of the feeling of the community residents as well as the agencies and elected Personnel that represent them we just don't have time to to get the forest feels the pressures of time too in the next 50 years the demand for wood in this country is expected to double and even today the pressures are there people pressures people demanding more and expecting more from the forest lands of this country those pressures create an imperative for intelligent [Music] management Timber production agriculture Recreation and local politics all these things create more pressure per acre and if Forest lands are to survive and serve all these needs then it's up to the forest manager to find a [Music] way [Music] [Applause] 73 November uh and just when everything seems nailed down there are new pressures at gford pincho National Forest in Washington there is Mount St Helens the eruptions brought death and rescue 34,000 Acres of fire and sightseers and scientists it all had to be managed Foresters are trained and educated to protect Forest lands but one course they don't teach in forestry school is how to manage a volcano West there's quite a bit of smoke yes all of the ground parties have left the red zone at this time at Yale University the curriculum covers just about everything else Professor David Smith teaches Silva culture and he takes the broad view of the profession forestry is every form of appropriate human knowledge applied to the management of forests it Embraces everything from economics to biology to chemistry to physics to engineering even to psychology it is a kind of application of liberal education in the woods the objective of it is to ensure that forests become a Perpetual source of human goods and services someone said a long time ago that the forest was built with the EGS uh the reason for this is that uh the trees uh tend to limit live up to the limit of the available growing space which is set by Smith wrote the book on Modern Sila culture literally and he spends his time refining the theory and preaching the gospel around the world above there now this means that if we want to replace an old forest with a new one or modify one which exists uh now uh we we can do it only by creating vacancy now this is nothing more than taking the Forester emulates nature speeding up the process to create healthier and more productive forests lethal [Music] disturbances emulating nature is a big job for the forest industry the research Forester looks for the superior tree tall and straight holding out the promise for the future branches are grafted onto root stock to create an entire Orchard of superior trees Coastal Lali Pine grown by West V in South Carolina seeds from this one Orchard will produce 3 million seedlings they'll be used for regeneration knowing when and where to cut what to grow knowing about botany genetics engineering all these things can into play all these things and a lot more to do the job right the Forester needs access to current accurate [Music] [Music] information computers digitizers plotters information technology is [Music] harest this technology is harnessed and used as one tool to help strike the balance of pressures not all the pressures come from people and business after all the forest is a home a refuge for wildlife striking the balance of nature is important protecting the creatures of the forest and protecting the watershed this tool is modern Forest management [Music] more and more these concerns are reaching the private landowner a case in point is Sugar Springs Farm a tree farm in Grantham New Hampshire the owner is Merl shanis and he recognizes the value of forest management and calls on Experts to provide the help he needs crisis that we think we probably in pretty good shape to put out 2,000 Taps and still retain the Vigor of the trees how many parts of what do you burn in your sugar house well we takes about 30 cords per year where do you get it from some of that Stanley koville and Joe smer provide the advice on managing the farm Saw Timber firewood Recreation and Wildlife Management all are part of the development plan for the farm here too the balance needs to be struck what you got Joe SMA is an extension Forester working for the State of New Hampshire koville is a private consultant both bring specific areas of knowledge to the problems of the private landowner just guessing it looks like and both are members of the Society of American Foresters more than 20,000 professionals public and private Educators and students researchers and administrators all using their knowledge to improve the future of forest resources good future crop tree tree will be worth about $50 for shanis that future can spell loss or profit depending on how he manages today what are we talking about in Stanley koville gives a professional prediction about that future well if you had a 100 of those per acre 300 you'll have you'll have 500 board feet for per tree uh give it another give it 40 years and 4 500 out 5,000 an [Music] acre 40 years seems like a long time but the professional knows that to achieve positive results a long time off plans have to be made now work has to be done today working in the forest that quiet peaceful place is no longer good enough to work with the forest that's what's needed and that's what modern forestry is all [Music] about [Music]