The Land We Cared For... A History of the Forest Service's Eastern Region

The major achievement of the Eastern Region in its 80 years has been the restoration of the once destroyed forests of the northeast, Lake States, Ohio Valley and Missouri Ozarks. Today, a tour of the Eastern Region reveals truly magnificent forests, not only the National Forests but the state and private ones.

The return of the forests has been accomplished because of growing public demand for forest conservation. This demand was translated into a series of laws which made the Forest Service the principal agent of the restorative process. Even with finite authority and limited funds, the Eastern Region has been able to build a system of National Forests and has managed the planting and regrowth of the forests.

The lands used to create most of the eastern National Forests were once virtual wastelands—the lands nobody wanted. Now, they are productive forests. Beginning in the 1940's, the National Forests of the Region supplied critical wood products for the World War II effort. After the War the older forests began to come into full production. In two more decades even the younger forests of the Region were profitably productive. This was especially true of the Lake States Forests and the Allegheny National Forest.

From the beginning the Forest Service has made it clear that the National Forests of the Eastern Region, like the Southern Region, are very different from the rest of the National Forest System, eastern Forests are acquired land Forests. Therefore, the mission of the Eastern Region must be to finish the job of acquiring them. Only then can the most effective management and the ultimate objectives of a National Forest be achieved. Anyone coming into the Eastern Region quickly becomes aware of this mission. However it is something quite new to people who have served with the Forest Service only in the West.

Possibly because of the different situation in the Eastern Region, the Forest Service has given it Regional Foresters who have experience in the East. All have understood, clearly what had to be done. As a result, the land acquisition policy has not changed. Methods and means have changed with the times, but the basic goal of completing its National Forests has remained before the Region. Over the years, reasonable progress has been made toward that goal. It is true that incomplete Forests remain, but the effort to finish the job continues. Help is coming from environmental groups and local citizens who are taking increasing interest in public lands.

One of the major successes of the Eastern Region has been in ending the holocaust forest fires which once burned tens of thousands of acres and consumed whole towns. Today, even the worst forest fire in the Region is almost certain to be contained in two or three days and to affect only a few thousand acres at most.

Clearly, the Region and its National Forests have accomplished much in forest fire prevention and suppression. The men and women of the Region are willing, and often eager it seems, to go fight a forest fire anywhere, even one halfway across the country. This dedication, along with significant improvements in detection, communication, organization, and fire fighting techniques have greatly lessened the losses caused by forest fires in the Region.

The fish and wildlife of the Eastern Region were once so depleted that many species faced extinction. Sportsmen had to go to other parts of the country to hunt and fish. Today, deer, squirrel, and turkey abound in the National Forests and many species of fish are caught in their waters. The Forest Service management has helped restore the bald eagle, peregrine falcon, Kirtland's warbler and other endangered and threatened species, plants and animals. The Eastern Region does not directly manage wildlife, but it has managed its forests so as to provide good wildlife habitat. Such management amounts to more than simply letting the forest grow. For years, forest managers and planners have been mindful of wildlife in their plans and actions, and even major decisions such as whether to clearcut or the new emphasis on managing for aspen in the Lake States are based in no small part on providing diverse wildlife habitat.

In the "old days" of the Forest Service before World War II, recreation was not a big item in management of National Forests. Today there exists greatly increased recreational needs in the Eastern Region caused by a growing population. The Region has been forced to take action to meet the need. Certain National Forests, particularly the Green Mountain, the White Mountain, and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of the Superior have become the most recreation-oriented National Forests in the National Forest System. Canoeing, skiing, lodges and inns, summer camps, and hiking trails are the leading activities, in addition to the usual ones of camping, picnicking, hunting and fishing.

All of the other National Forests of the Region provide diverse recreation opportunities also. In fact, some of the Forests have found that they have over-provided recreational facilities to the extent that the supply has kept well ahead of the demand. Several Forests have decided to not expand their recreation facilities further until it is clear that there is a need for more. The policy of the Region has been to keep the recreation experience in the National Forests as close to nature as possible. Camp and picnic sites are well kept, but the facilities are limited. The philosophy is to let the private sector provide the more luxurious facilities. This is to be commended. Very few Americans want their National Forests to become commercialized or to compete with private business.

Beginning with the CCC and continuing with the Job Corps, YCC, YACC, and the Seniors and Volunteer programs, the Eastern Region has shown a positive approach to Human Resource Programs. These Programs have as their goal helping people and lending a hand with the serious national problem of unemployment. Although dealing with human economic problems was not one of the original assignments of the Region or the Forest Service, the Region has adjusted well to the task. The agency has approached it as if unemployed and untrained youths or seniors needing something meaningful to do in their retirement are another resource to be managed. A visit to Blackwell or Golconda Job Corps Centers is enough to convince anyone that the Region has made a good faith effort to do this difficult job. Clearly, they have helped many young men and women who otherwise might never have had a decent chance in life.

The most recent round of forest plans, as an overall effort, have been a success. The National Forests now have a clearer picture of how to integrate resource management. The forest plans also reflect the new willingness in the Region to listen to the public and to respond. The Regional leadership in this effort was pivotal. Without it, some of the Forests might have made serious errors in their future directions.

However, it will take years to know if the forest plans were worth the vast outlay of money and effort, considering the planning which had gone before. For six years, it seemed that some personnel at the National Forest and District levels were able to do little more than work on the plans. However, the task was assigned by Congress, it had to be done well, and it is now done. Everyone can return to normal work and the implementation of the plans. The plans must be updated and revised in the future, but the great body of work is done.

Because of the vagaries of appropriations and the economy, several of the younger National Forests of the Eastern Region remain fragmented to the point that they are difficult to manage effectively. This is true of the Wayne National Forest, and to a slightly lesser extent of the Hoosier and the Shawnee. There are Districts on several other National Forests which have less than 30% "greenlands." However, the high price of land and federal government's budgetary problems combine to make it unlikely that the ownership situation will be solved in the foreseeable future. In the meantime, land exchanges and other programs are making reasonable progress.

The same factors are at work with regard to mineral rights. The Eastern Region is at a disadvantage in having to manage surface lands without owning the subsurface. Mining and drilling are, however, carefully monitored, and the environment is protected. Limited acquisitions of mineral rights are also being made.

A major problem for the Region is off-road and all-terrain vehicles. Each National Forest is finding its own way toward a solution to this problem. But that solution may come eventually from outside the Forest Service, either in a landmark court decision, legislation which limits the use of the vehicles, or a decline in use. In the meantime, the Forests must seek ways to permit legitimate use without allowing serious damage to the forest environment.

The related issue of enforcement is also a problem. With reduced budgets and fewer personnel a distinct possibility, it will be increasingly difficult to enforce the rules necessary to preserve wilderness and wildlife, to guarantee the quality of recreational experiences, and to protect the Forests from those users who would do careless damage. Indeed, for the Eastern Region enforcement may be the most serious challenge of the future.

Over the years, the management of the National Forests has been good enough to return many cut- and burned-over areas to a condition which can be considered for wilderness designation. At present, the designated wildernesses in the Region constitute about 2% of the total acreage of the National Forests. These areas vary from a few hundred acres to many thousands of acres in size. They are essentially a "natural" haven for city-worn people.

Given the pressures from powerful organizations to have more wilderness, the Eastern Region must now ask itself how much more wilderness does it need. Bob Marshall, the Forest Service's leading wilderness advocate, was once asked the same question. His answer was, "How many Brahms symphonies do you need?" It is a telling remark, but it does not settle the question. One might ask Bob Marshall if every piece of music should be a Brahms symphony.

A reasonable answer to the question of when to stop designating wilderness in the Eastern Region is to do it when the need is met. However, that answer immediately raises another critical question: is there enough genuine wilderness in the Eastern Region to meet the needs of millions of city people? It is a matter that the Region will study carefully before proceeding. Designating new wilderness is not something which should be done simply because there are areas where it is feasible. Nor should areas which are not reasonable as wilderness be forced into the status in order to meet determined needs. Phony wildernesses will yield nothing but phony experiences for the public.

Moreover, the wilderness seekers make up only a small part of the users of the National Forests—probably somewhere close to the portion of wilderness acreage which now exists. Using the criterion of need, this suggests there may be enough wilderness for the present. But there are other legitimate reasons to designate wilderness. Unique, unspoiled, and threatened areas need to be protected, and the Eastern Region will undoubtedly continue the process of protecting through the wilderness designation process.

The Eastern Region has had a public relations problem in getting its message through, especially in urban areas. Not enough is known about what is happening in the National Forests, what is available there, and indeed the great accomplishments of the Region. In the Monongahela Controversy, the Region learned how dimly the public understands the mission of the Forest Service. In practical terms, it also learned from an unexpected public reaction how poorly suited massive clearcutting was in eastern Forests.

The mandated public involvement phases of RARE II and the forest plans were intended to elicit what the public wanted done about wilderness and the National Forests in general. There was great variety in the way the National Forests evaluated and interpreted the public reaction to these initiatives. There seemed to be a tendency to quantify the reactions and then to bend them into whatever meaning seemed most workable. On the whole, though, the Eastern Region has become much more aware of the needs of the public and responsive to those needs as a result of the Monongahela Controversy, RARE II and the forest planning process.

Despite the understandable difficulties in ascertaining what the public wants, the Eastern Region is determined to continue the effort. It wants to be responsive to public desires and needs. The Region is not inclined to return to the old days when foresters and other experts gave little thought to the public and managed Forests as their training and experience dictated. That way worked well for many years, but the future of the National Forests, like so many other complex and technical matters in today's world, is so important that the public will have to be involved. This is probably not the most efficient way to operate a National Forest System, but in a democracy it is the only way.

Cultural (Heritage) Resources excavation of prehistoric archeological site.