About the Book
During the past twenty-five years, North American forestry has received increasingly vigorous scrutiny. Critics including the environmentalists, environmental scientists, representatives of public interest groups, and many individual citizens have expressed concerns about forestry's basic assumptions and methods, as well as its practical outcomes. Criticism has centered on such issues as the exploitation of forests for timber production, the reduction and fragmentation of old-growth habitats, the destruction of biodiversity, the degradation of grasslands through grazing practices, lack of government attention to recreation facilities, silvicultural methods like clearcutting and the use of herbicides and pesticides, the exportation of industrial forestry techniques to other parts of the world, and the use of public monies to provide services for private resource companies, as in the creation of logging roads. This rising tide of public scrutiny has led many foresters to suspect that their \u0022contract\u0022 with society to manage forests using their best professional judgment has been undermined.
Some of these professionals, as well as some of their critics, have begun to reexamine their old beliefs and to look for new ways of practicing forestry. Part of this reflective process has entailed new directions in environmental ethics and environmental philosophy. This reader brings together some of the new thinking in this area. Here students of the applied environmental and natural resource sciences, as well as the interested general reader, will discover a rich sampling of writings in environmental ethics and philosophy as they apply to forestry. Readings focus on basic ethical systems in forestry and forest management, philosophical issues in forestry ethics, codes of ethics in forestry and related natural resource sciences such as fisheries science and wildlife biology, Aldo Leopold's land ethic in forestry, ethical advocacy and whistleblowing in government resource agencies, the ethics of new forestry, ecoforestry, and public debate in forestry, as well as ethical issues in global forestry such as the responsibilities of forest corporations, environmentalists, and individual wood consumers.
The volume contains materials from the founders of forestry ethics, such as Bernhard Fernow, Giford Pinchot, John Muir, and Aldo Leopold; from such organizations as the Society of American Foresters, the Wildlife Society, the American Fisheries Society, Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, and the Ecoforesters group, in addition to the writings by a variety of well-known environmental philosophers and foresters, including Holmes Rolston, Robin Attfield, Lawrence Johnson, Michael McDonald, Paul Wood, James E. Coufal, Raymond Craig, Kristin Shrader-Frechette, Jeff DeBonis, Jim L. Bowyer, Alasdair Gunn, Doug Daigle, Alan G. McQuillan, Stephanie Kaza, Alan Drengson, Duncan Taylor, and Kathleen Dean Moore.
Table of Contents:
CONTENTS Preface Acknowledgments General Introduction PART I: ETHICAL SYSTEMS IN FORESTRY 1. The Economic Resource Model of Forests and Forestry Berhard Fernow: Forest and Forestry Defined Gifford Pinchot: Principles of Conservation Gifford Pinchot: The Use of the National Forests 2. John Muir on the Preservation of the Wild Forests of the West John Muir: The American Forests 3. Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic in Forestry Aldo Leopold: The Land Ethic PART II: TWO PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES IN FORESTRY ETHICS 4. Multiple Values in Forests Holmes Rolston III: Values Deep in the Woods Holmes Rolston III: Aesthetic Experience in Forestry 5. The Rights of Trees and Other Natural Objects Robin Artfield The Good of Trees Lawrence E. Johnson: Holistic Entities--Species Lawrence E. Johnson: Ecointerests and Forest Fires PART III: CONTEMPORARY FORESTRY ETHICS 6. Basic Principles in Forestry Ethics Michael McDonald: First Principles for Professional Foresters Paul M. Wood: "The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number": Is This a Good Land-Use Ethic James E. Coufal: Environmental Ethics: Cogitations and Ruminations of a Forester The Ecoforestry Declaration of Interdependence 7. Codes of Ethics in Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife Biology Code of Ethics for Members of the Society of American Foresters Code of Ethics and Standards for Professional Conduct for Wildlife Biologists, The Wildlife Society Code of Practices, American Fisheries' Society Code of Ethics, Oregon Chapter, American Fisheries Society A Code of Ethics for Government Service The Ecoforester's Way 8. Adopting a Land Ethic in the Society of American Foresters James E. Coufal: The Land Ethic Question Norwin E. Linnartz, Raymond S. Craig, and M. B. Dickerman: Land Ethic Canon Recommended by Committee Holmes Rolston III and James Coufal: A Forest Ethic and Multivalue Forest Management: The Integrity of Forests and of Foresters Are Bound Together Raymond S. Craig: Further Development of a Land Ethic Canon Raymond S. Craig: Land Ethic Canon Proposal: A Report from the Task Force 9. Advocating New Environmental Ethics in Public Natural Resource Agencies Kristin Shrader-Frechette: Ethics and Environmental Advocacy Inner Voice AFSEEE Vision: Strategy for Forest Service Reform Jeff DeBonis: Speaking Out: A Letter to the Chief of the U. S. Forest Service F. Dale Robertson: Chief Robertson Responds On Speaking Out: Fighting for Resource Ethics in the BLM Whistleblower Spills Beans on North Kaibab A Combat Biologist Calls It Quits: An Interview with Al Espinosa Tongass Employees Speak Out Cheri Brooks: Enough is Enough! A Tongass Timber Beast Puts His Foot Down 10. Ethical Issues in Global Forestry James L. Bowyer: Responsible Environmentalism: The Ethical Features of Forest Harvest and Wood Use on a Global Scale Alastair S. Gunn: Environmental Ethics and Tropical Rain Forests: Should Greens Have Standing? Doug Daigle: Globalization of the Timber Trade 11. New Forestry, New Forest Philosopher Alan G. McQuillan: Cabbages and Kings: The Ethics and Aesthetics of New Forestry Stephanie Kaza: Ethical Tensions in the Northern Forest Alan Drengson and Duncan Taylor: An Overview of Ecoforestry: Introduction EPILOGUE Kathleen Dean Moore: Traveling the Logging Road, Coast Range Selected Bibliography Index
About the Author :
Peter List is Professor of Philosophy at Oregon State University, where he teaches courses on environmental ethics, ethical issues in the natural resource sciences, and sustainable forestry. He is the author of articles on Aldo Leopold's land ethic, and co-author of several articles on public attitudes about federal forests and forest management, published in the Journal of Forestry and Society and Natural Resources.
Review :
"...the articles in this reader create a rich foundation for discussion and for questioning the way we use and manage natural resources." -Journal of Environmental Education
