Dear Future President,

Some people may say that deforestation is a necessity since our country is constantly developing. Our population is growing at about 0.77% each year as of August 1st which is stated in US Population Growth Rate, and we need more land to produce houses, and buildings for everyone. We’re also cutting down forests to put cattle on the land so we create more food, and we’re using the timber for paper and building. Even though I agree that we need to occasionally cut down trees to help support our developing country, I also agree that we need to change our way of how we do it.

“One of the main "techniques" used by the US Forest Service and other agencies in their attack on the natural forests has been clearcutting,” Citizen Action Guide stated in their article. Clearcutting is when all the trees in an area are cut down, and it has been recently giving our country disastrous consequences. Typically the wood is sold for profit, and can be highly beneficial for the timber owners. Although, stated in Effects of Clear Cutting is, “The EPFW points to data that suggests that the recreation associated with national forests may bring in 31 times as much income as logging these same national forests in the United States, and recreation may yield as many as 38 times as many jobs.”

Deforestation doesn’t only cause a loss in income but it can create a loss of habitat for humans and animals. WWF states that, “Millions of people around the world depend on forests for hunting, gathering and medicine, forest products such as rubber and rattan, and small-scale agriculture. But deforestation disrupts the lives of these people, sometimes with devastating consequences.” Not only are humans affected, but species of animals are becoming endangered because of deforestation like the San Joaquin Kit Fox. The Center for Biological Diversity says, “By 1958, 50 percent of its habitat in California's Central Valley had been lost, due to extensive land conversions for agriculture, intensive land uses and pesticides.”

Lastly, deforestation causes a large amount of greenhouse gases to be released into the air because with the lack of trees we don’t have anything to reverse the gases. Stated in Deforestation and Global Warming is, “Since we live in an age where carbon dioxide is very abundant in the atmosphere, released through man-made inventions, such as cars, factories, and power plants, it is vital, more than ever, that trees fulfill their part in the environment and take some of the excess carbon dioxide out of the air.” Unfortunately with deforestation loggers would cut down forests and we wouldn’t have anything to take the remaining gases. “Loss of forests contributes as much as 30 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions each year,” is stated in Deforestation and Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

In conclusion, I would like to abolish clearcutting altogether, and make any logger have to get it approved if they wanted to cut down a forest. One and a half acres of forest is cut down every second, and if this continues we won’t have anything left in the near future. Please keep our country America the Beautiful and not America the Deserted.

Sincerely, Caroline

Works Cited:

 Multpl. “US Population Growth Rate by Year.” US Population Growth Rate by Year, Multpl, http://www.multpl.com/us-population-growth-rate/table/by-year.

“Citizen Action Guide.” Citizen Action Guide, http://www.saveamericasforests.org/pages/educationcda.htm.

Stubblefield, Megan. “Effects of Clear Cutting.” LoveToKnow, MA Environmental Science and Policy, 6 June 2014, http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/environmental-issues/effects-clear-cutting

Cesareo, Kerry, and Linda K. Walker. “Deforestation.” WorldWildlife.org, World Wildlife Fund, http://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation.

“Top 10 U.S. Endangered Species.” Top 10 U.S. Endangered Species Threatened by Human Population, Center for Biological Diversity, http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/species.html.

Jakuboski, Samantha. “Deforestation and Global Warming.” Deforestation and Global Warming, Scitable, 19 May 2014, http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/green-science/deforestation_and_global_warming.

Johnson, Toni. “Deforestation and Greenhouse-Gas Emissions.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, 21 Dec. 2009, http://www.cfr.org/forests-and-land-management/deforestation-greenhouse-gas-emissions/p14919.