Do you remember growing up and running around in the woods with your friends or siblings, climbing trees, laying the grass, chasing each other with sticks, and so much more. Well I do, and I personally want to see my kids enjoy nature the same way I did growing up. Not learning about it in school or seeing videos of it, but actually experiencing it. That’s why we need to protect and keep our forests healthy for the future generations.
Benefits of a healthy forest
What is so beneficial about healthy forests? Why should we protect them? Well healthy forests provide not just benefits to people who love sight seeing, it also provides people a place to enjoy time with friends and family, a place for people to live an active lifestyle, and a place for people to escape from the busy places they might be, forests also provide for us clean drinking water through their watersheds, healthy air through the plants, and offer habitats to countless different wildlife. National Forests Foundation has done and continues to do very important work in recreating habitats for these species, they reported the following on their website in 2023 “We planted 586,000 trees on Michigan’s Huron-Manistee National Forest to provide habitat for the Endangered Kirtland’s Warbler”. A non-profit organization made up of volunteers managed to do this and many more projects.
Forest Protection
What are some ways you can help protect our forests and keep them healthy? To start, wildfire prevention starts with you. Make sure to implement safe recreation practices such as; Before doing any activities involving a flame, spark, or flammable material look at your local fire risk and the guidelines for it, never leave your campfire unattended no matter what, make sure even after you put water on your campfire you sit there for a little bit and stir it to make sure it really is out. Wildfires that have been caused by mistakes by humans leave drastic effects on our communities and ecosystems, one in particular that you may have heard of is the “Park Fire” in California where a man pushed a flaming car into a ravine causing a wildfire burning 120,000+ acres of land. Some other ways you can protect your forests is making sure to only use wood from that area/wood that’s allowed. Bringing in wood from other forests/areas can bring in disease and insects that can severely hurt that forest. There are so many different diseases and insects that kill forests off rapidly, and many of them can be very difficult to identify by the forest rangers and workers. This is why making sure to follow your area’s guidelines and only use local wood is so important. Make sure to also properly dispose of your waste, bring your garbage to properly marked containers and clean up after your pets. The US forest service says this about camping safely “Keep fires small and bring firewood purchased in the local area. Firewood brought from another area could also bring invasive pests.” and “creating new campsites kills vegetation and leads to soil erosion. If possible, use an existing site, or pick a site where vegetation is absent.” These are only 2 tips for protecting our forests that they have on their website. If you want to learn more about this you can see more at the US forests services website here; https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/know-before-you-go/responsible-recreation
Restoration
How can we restore our forests and try and repair the damage that’s already done? Restoration starts with avocation, you alone can’t restore an entire forest if there are people actively destroying it. Reach out to local lawmakers and educate yourself on what the government is doing to our forests. For instance Emily Denny, an independence journalist reported “The Senate bill introduction follows the “emergency” Secretarial Memo, which commits the USDA to logging public forests regardless of environmental damage”. This act will severely damage our forests and make any efforts of restoration and protection very difficult going forward. This is why avocation and reaching out is important. You need to let your lawmakers know that you won’t stand for this and educate your family, friends, neighbours on what is happening. Restoration starts with you.
