Your bark beetle article missed the human and
community dimension (HCN, 7/19/04: Global Warming’s Unlikely
Harbingers). People who live, work, and play in forests devastated
by beetles (e.g. Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula) perceive a wide
range of impacts and risks. The biological implications of
widespread beetle-kill include invasive, fire-prone grasses,
decline in fish and animal habitat, and increased erosion and
flooding. Fire is a major concern, but falling trees pose equal
dangers year-round for property, power lines, and safety. Beetles
bring a boom-bust timber industry, changing local communities in
unsustainable ways, since timber value of dead trees declines
rapidly. But often overlooked is the change in quality of life.
Loss of scenery, privacy, recreation opportunities, and identity
are keenly felt. Some capitalize on the “emerging views” and new
logging jobs, but forest management is complicated by the diverse
array of communities and values. While it may be easy for the
ecologist to say, “We’re just trying to live with it,” local
residents are the ones really living with the complex implications
of this dramatic ecological change.
Courtney
Flint State College, Pennsylvania
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Bark beetles affect human communities, too.
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