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Reforestation
The purpose of this written report is to inform the reader about the
concerns and facts involved with reforestation. Reforestation began in
Ontario after World War II. What happened was, professional foresters
were assigned to an area and became responsible for its well being. Under
the Crown Timber Act, long term management was prepared. Then the many
steps needed to rebuild a forest began. Included in this report will be
information on the effects of cutting and replanting, such as Carbon
Dioxide, and Global Warming. Following this will be methods for planning
a forest, and how they are conveyed before planting in a forest begins.
There are many reasons why forests are cut down. One is to benefit
economically, with furniture and home building. But there is also another
reason. Arguments say "the United States could help slow the atmospheric
accumulation of carbon dioxide by replacing old-growth forests with
faster-growing young trees". A new study of young and old forests says
how this is in fact not true. Loggers have said that new trees pull the
carbon dioxide better than old trees, and this may seem true, but it is
not. There is one point being overlooked from all of this. The older,
larger trees can store much, much more carbon dioxide than a new tree
could. By cutting and burning these magnificent seasoned trees, the CO2
is being released back into the atmosphere. These releases of carbon
dioxide add up in our surroundings, only to intensify Global Warming.
Although this shows what happens when one burns and cuts down old forests,
one must still plant new trees for long term plans, not letting them grow
for a few years, to then cut them down.
There are many methods for planning a forest. The simplest method of
replanting a forest is to leave it to nature. A suitable seed bed in
which trees will readily take root is integral for successful regeneration.
Reducing competition by eliminating grass, weed or shrubs is another
requirement in securing a new crop of trees. These will sprout to produce
seedlings. Though the weeds were eliminated before, they still grow back,
and because of this poor, quality trees will grow. Another method though,
is to create a planned forest, where new conifers are grown from seed in a
special nursery. Seeding is a reforestation technique used mainly in the
Boreal forest area where fire or logging tends to leave no or very little
seeds for growth. In specific cases, Ministry staff seed the area with
treated tree seeds. Following this is the planting. In many cases,
planting is the only means of initiating a new forest. Up to 80 000 000
trees are planted annually in Ontario on Crown and private land. Usually
immature forests have to be tended to. Once situated, a new crop needs
intermittent care for the next 60 to 100 years. This means continuing
protection from fires, disease and insects and routine thinning to focus
the growth on selected crop trees.
Before a forest can be grown, certain procedures must first occur.
Collecting and processing seeds is one of them. Tree flowers fertilized
by blowing winds or insects generate seed, in a time of somewhere within 1
to 2 years. Seed collecting from the woods must be timed with
periodically occurring good seed years. Angus, near Barrie, is where all
forest tree seed collection is co-ordinated. Stock of seeds can value up
to $500,000. Usually this is around 3 billion seeds from 59 tree classes.
In summary of the aforesaid, trees are very valuable to the human race
economically and for health. Without trees the environment could worsen
to the point where we would be living on one large dessert. We must
remember that forest do not grow as easily as they used to because of
fires and other disasters. This is why many forests are planned, and
cared for. Most of us will never now how they turn out because for a
forest to completely grow, it needs within anywhere from 60 to 100 years
or more.
There are many reasons why we should have reforestation. One being mostly
that we need forest to live! Without forests, or any type of plant, the
carbon cycle can't result. There are not many arguments against
reforestation, but there can be some opposition for the land being used
between a large business company and the Ministry. I feel replanting of
forests is very crucial to the human race. The earth depends on many
cycles, where one organism depends on the other because of what it does.
We, exhale carbon dioxide which the trees take in, while they give off
vital oxygen. In closing, we live in an age of technology, leaving behind
us the past. With the past we are forgetting forests; we must make sure
this doesn't happen.
Andrew Likakis Mr. Jan GCA- 2A December 14, 1991
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