Four Threats to Forest Health

Healthy forests make for a healthy nation.

In the 21st century, the nation’s forests and grasslands face four threats. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth names them as: (a) fire and fuels, (b) invasive species, (c) loss of open space, and (d) unmanaged recreation.

Fire and Fuels

Rehabilitation and restoration treatment priorities are highest where risks are greatest. Estimates are that high priority treatment areas cover 397 million acres across all ownerships, public and private, an area three times the size of France.

Invasive Species

Of 2,000 nonnative plants found in the United States, 400 are invasive species. The U.S. spends $13 billion per year to prevent and contain the spread of invasives. For all invasives combined, the price tag is $138 billion per year in total economic damages and associated control costs. In addition to nonnative plants, 70 million acres of forest in all ownerships (public and private landholdings) are at serious risk of being wiped out by 26 different insects and diseases (e.g., gypsy moth, hemlock woolly adelgid, dogwood anthracnose – the list goes on).

Loss of Open Space

More than 21.8 million acres of open space were lost to development between 1982 and 1997, about 4,000 acres per day, 3 acres a minute. Of this loss, close to 10.3 million acres are in forestland. It continues today.

Unmanaged Recreation

Increasing use of the national forests for outdoor activities prompts the need to manage these forms of recreation, including the use of off-highway vehicles (OHVs). OHV ownership has grown from 5 million in 1972 to 36 million in 2002. Depending on the site, unmanaged OHV use in the national forest can have serious impact on the land, among them: (1) damage to wetlands and wetland species, (2) severe soil erosion, and (3) spread of invasive species.

Insect Threats

Chestnut Borer | Gypsy Moth | Hemlock Woolly Aldegid | Southern Pine Beetle | Sudden Oak Death

Other Forest Health Topics

Forest Health Initiative | Red cockaded woodpecker | Invasive Species | Prescribed Burning

Title: Forest Health Threats
Last Updated: July 27, 2009