Emerging legal issues in hardwood management

One of the most significant forest policy debates in the United States today concerns the appropriate role of government in the management of private forest lands. Currently governments at all levels are influencing private forestry practices — including those associated with the hardwood resource — through a variety of legal vehicles. One of the most controversial of these legal influences is regulatory control. Government regulation of private forestry practices in America is not new but dates to colonial times. It rests on a well established, sound legal basis. Direct regulation today exists primarily at the state and local government level. Indirect regulation emanates primarily from the federal government by means of state mandates reflected in state environmental laws. A large proportion of the east’s prime hardwood timber grows in areas susceptible to these regulatory measures which are rapidly expanding. Involvement of the hardwood community in the political process will be essential to insure balanced, workable regulatory legislation.

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