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Large Forests

Large Forests. Revisiting the Land Ethic. by Gray Merriam. Aldo Leopold said. “All ethics so far evolved rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of independent parts. …

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Large Forests

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  1. Large Forests Revisiting the Land Ethic by Gray Merriam

  2. Aldo Leopold said “All ethics so far evolved rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of independent parts. … … The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, water, plants, and animals, or collectively, the land.“

  3. E. O. Wilson in “The Future of Life” said of forest fragments left isolated by removal of the forest all around them … “Such fragments, even if left untouched, do not carry on as microcosms of the pristine larger forest.”

  4. Cadiz County, Wisconsin

  5. Canada

  6. Ottawa Valley

  7. Small fragments have more edge, less interior

  8. Small forests means small populations

  9. Movements among subpopulations allow survival of metapopulations

  10. fragmented populations survive only if animals can move among many small populations

  11. forest plants do not move easily among forest fragments, causing local extinctions

  12. Barriers can make movements among fragments hazardous

  13. Narrow corridors allow movements by only some species -- habitat connections are best

  14. Farm fields next to forests provide high primary productivity --- food

  15. Some species combine productivity of farmland with protection of forest

  16. What to do?

  17. The Ethical Issue: Landholders are asked to devote some of their private holdings to satisfy a public need

  18. Subdivision and country estate construction are major threats to large forests Municipal planning controls these threats Official Plans & their periodic revisions are points of entry to this process

  19. Landowners should be compensated Pay for Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) Pay for Conservation Easements Pay for Rights to hunt, observe nature, X-C ski, etc.

  20. We should all remember Ownership is not absolute We are all temporary custodians -- stewards We are just passing through and leaving the land as a legacy for our followers

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