Top Threats to Forests Do Not Include Over-harvesting

Submitted: The Two Sides Team June 30, 2015

Tom Martin, President and CEO of the American Forest Foundation, wrote an interesting op-ed in The Hill. He points out that the most significant challenges woodland owners face are development pressures, followed closely by environmental threats such as insects and diseases, and natural disasters like wildfires and hurricanes. Ironically, these threats can actually be addressed by increased markets for sustainable wood, which enable woodland owners to finance practices that create forest resiliency.

Tom notes that "To truly tackle the most pressing threats to America’s family forests, we must continue to encourage markets for sustainably managed wood and maintain a tax structure that supports keeping forests as forests. I hope our members of Congress see that markets for sustainably managed wood are actually a benefit to forests, and support a tax treatment for family forests that allows them to continue to provide all Americans with the benefits from these woods."
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