Bonnie Tells Scientists: Light the Way to Better Forest Management. - Pacific Forest Trust

Bonnie Tells Scientists: Light the Way to Better Forest Management.

From USDA. Read the full story on the USDA blog:

Confronting climate change will be substantially cheaper and easier if we conserve forests, and the key to that is expert knowledge and science, Undersecretary of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Bonnie told thousands of attendees at the recent 24th World Congress of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“A healthy and prosperous planet depends on the health of our natural resources and, in particular, on the conservation of the world’s forests,” Bonnie told the crowd, which included 2,492 delegates from 100 countries.

“But our success in conserving, managing and restoring our forests depends to a significant degree on a solid foundation of science and research.” Around the world, forests and trees play a critical role in supporting livelihoods and quality of life. Forests provide clean water and clean air, habitat for fish and wildlife, settings for outdoor recreation and solitude, as well as raw materials for forest products and bioenergy.

However, even as our demand for their resources grows, forests and trees face myriad threats, such as climate change and invasive pests and diseases. The theme of the Congress, “Sustaining Forests, Sustaining People: The Role of Research,” emphasized the importance of scientific research and crosscutting collaboration to help find solutions to these challenges.

Bonnie pointed to the legacy of President Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service when referring to the nation’s challenges. When Roosevelt and Pinchot founded the Forest Service in 1905, Bonnie said, they were influenced by the loss of a seemingly endless bounty of forests and other natural resources in America.

“Uncertainty will complicate our decision making. But in a very real sense, we’ve been here before,” he said, referring to Pinchot’s early work. “So as managers and policymakers wrestle with the difficult decisions we face about the future of the world’s forests, science and research will light the way.”

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