Public Lands: Our Legacy, Our Responsibility

John Talberth, Director of Conservation for the Forest Conservation Council

Public lands are a legacy bequeathed to us by those with foresight and enough common sense to realize that far too much of the American landscape has been abused for private gain. Protecting and restoring these lands is a responsibility we all share. The link between protecting our public lands and maintaining our quality of life cannot be understated.

A federal scientific panel recently concluded that our system of national parks, wilderness areas, national wildlife refuges, national forests, national grasslands and other public spaces "will increasingly be called upon to provide the backbone of regional strategies to conserve species and ecosystems." Indeed, such lands provide essential habitat for thousands of fish, wildlife, and plant species that cannot adapt to human altered landscapes. Public lands are also the source of clean water for many of our nationÕs most important river systems such as the Colorado, the Potomac, and the Columbia. Our public lands are the only lands where native terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems can be protected on a large landscape scale Ð a fact that underscores their importance not only from an ecological standpoint but economically as well.

The economic benefits of keeping native ecosystems intact are diverse and immense. Globally, economists estimate that ecosystem services such as flood control, water purification, waste assimilation, replenishment of soils, pollination, pest control, and carbon sequestering generate more than $33 trillion to the global economy each year. A recent study published in Science reported that native ecosystems generate more than 100 times the economic value when intact that they provide when managed for commercial uses.

In Texas, national forests confer immense economic benefits to surrounding communities and the region simply by existing as natural areas. For example, Texas national forests generate nearly $50 million in annual recreation use benefits alone. Clean water generates $27 million for consumptive and non-consumptive users each year. So much of our natural landscape has been taken from us and grazed, dammed, mined, logged, developed, sealed in with roads and cluttered with cell towers, oil rigs and power lines. It is imperative that our public lands be fully protected against these forms of commercial exploitation. According to polls 65-75 percent of the American public supports public-land protection.

Yet time and time again, conservationists get sidetracked into arguing not about whether commercial uses should occur on our public lands but about where, how much and under what conditions. In doing so, the debate over environmental policy has become tragically limited. For example, our national forest system represents just 17 percent of the productive forestland base of the nation. This includes the lands that were left over after private settlers and the timber industry grabbed the most productive land at the lowest elevations.

In Texas, that share is much smaller with national forests representing just three percent of the forested land base in the state. While conservationists battle over the disposition of these lands, clear cutting, urban sprawl, road building and strip mining proceed virtually unregulated on the 83 percent of U.S. forestlands not in the public domain. Legislation protecting public resources on these other lands has been neglected. For example, only six state forest practices acts Ð which regulate logging on private land Ð contain enforceable provisions to protect wildlife. Getting a grip on the horrendous land management in Texas and around the country is a task that will remain unfulfilled unless we work aggressively to demand permanent protection.

Creative alliances are now forming between conservationists, labor unions, religious leaders, taxpayer groups and small farm and forestland owners who agree on the economic and environmental fallacy of subsidized resource extraction on public lands and the need for private land stewardship. Please call Forest Conservation Council at (505) 986-1163 or visit us on the web to learn more about how you can get involved.