Environmental Encyclopedia

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Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Forest decline

ESOURCES

OOKS

Clary, D. A. Timber and the Forest Service. Lawrence: University Press of

Kansas, 1986.

Dana, S. T., and S. K. Fairfax. Forest and Range Policy. 2nd ed. New York:

McGraw-Hill, 1980.

Stairs, G. R., and T. E. Hamilton, eds. The RPA Process: Moving Along

the Learning Curve. Durham, NC: Center for Resource and Environmental

Policy Research, Duke University.

Forest decline

In recent decades there have been observations of widespread

declines in vigor and

dieback

of mature forests in many

parts of the world. In many cases,

pollution

may be a factor

contributing to forest decline, for example in regions where

air quality

is poor because of acidic deposition or contami-

nation with

ozone

sulfur dioxide

nitrogen

compounds,

or metals. However, forest decline also occurs in some places

where the air is not polluted, and in these cases it has been

suggested that the phenomenon is natural.

Forest decline is characterized by a progressive, often

rapid deterioration in the vigor of trees of one or several

species

, sometimes resulting in mass

mortality

(or dieback)

within stands over a large area. Decline often selectively

affects mature individuals, and is thought to be triggered by

a particular stress or a combination of stressors, such as

severe weather,

nutrient

deficiency, toxic substances in

soil

and

air pollution

. According to this scenario, excessively

stressed trees suffer a large decline in vigor. In this weakened

condition, trees are relatively vulnerable to lethal attack by

insects and

microbial pathogens

. Such secondary agents

may not be so harmful to vigorous individuals, but they can

cause the death of severely stressed trees.

The preceding is only a hypothetical etiology of forest

dieback. It is important to realize that although the occur-

rence and characteristics of forest decline can be well docu-

mented, the primary environmental variable(s) that triggers

the decline disease are not usually known. As a result, the

etiology of the decline syndrome is often attributed to a

vague but unsubstantiated combination of biotic and abiotic

factors.

The symptoms of decline differ among tree species.

Frequently observed effects include: (1) decreased productiv-

ity; (2) chlorosis, abnormal size or shape, and premature

abscission of foliage; (3) a progressive death of branches that

begins at the extremities and often causes a “stag-headed”

appearance; (4) root dieback; (5) an increased frequency of

secondary attack by fungal pathogens and defoliating or

wood-boring insects; and (6) ultimately mortality, often as

a stand-level dieback.

587

One of the best-known cases of an apparently natural

forest decline, unrelated to human activities, is the wide-

spread dieback of birches that occurred throughout the

northeastern United States and eastern Canada from the

1930s to the 1950s. The most susceptible species were yellow

(Betula alleghaniensis) and paper birch (B. papyrifera), which

were affected over a vast area, often with extensive mortality.

For example, in 1951 at the time of peak dieback in Maine,

an estimated 67% of the birch trees had been killed. In spite

of considerable research effort, a single primary cause has

not been determined for birch dieback. It is known that a

heavy mortality of fine roots usually preceded deterioration

of the above-ground tree, but the environmental cause(s) of

this effect are unknown, although deeply frozen soils caused

by a sparse winter snow cover are suspected as being impor-

tant. No biological agent was identified as a primary predis-

posing factor, although fungal pathogens and insects were

observed to secondarily attack weakened trees and cause their

death.

Another apparently natural forest decline is that of

ohia (Metrosideros polymorpha), an

endemic species

of tree

usually occurring in monospecific stands, that dominates the

native forest of

Hawaiian Islands

. There are anecdotal

accounts of events of widespread mortality of ohia extending

back at least a century, but the phenomenon is probably

more ancient than this. The most recent widespread decline

began in the late 1960s and resulted in about 200 mi

(518

) of forest with symptoms of ohia decline in a 1982

survey of 308 mi

(798 km

). In most declining stands only

the canopy individuals were affected. Understory saplings

and seedlings were not in decline, and in fact were released

from competitive stresses by dieback of the overstory.

An hypothesis to explain the cause of ohia decline has

been advanced by D. Mueller-Dombois and co-workers,

who believe that the stand-level dieback is caused by the

phenomenon of “cohort senescence.” This is a stage of the life

history of ohia characterized by a simultaneously decreasing

vigor in many individuals, occurring in old-growth stands.

The development of senescence in individuals is governed

by genetic factors, but the timing of its onset can be influ-

enced by environmental stresses. The decline-susceptible,

over mature, life history stage follows a more vigorous,

younger, mature stage in an even-aged stand of individuals

of the same generation (i.e., a cohort) that had initially

established following a severe disturbance. In Hawaii, lava

flows, events of deposition of volcanic ash, and hurricanes

are natural disturbances that initiate

succession

. Sites dis-

turbed in this way are colonized by a cohort of ohia individu-

als, which produce an even-aged stand. If there is no in-

tervening catastrophic disturbance, the stand matures, then

becomes senescent and enters a decline and dieback phase.

The original stand is then replaced by another ohia forest

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Forest decline

comprised of an advance regeneration of individuals released

from the understory. Therefore, according to the cohort

senescence theory, the ohia dieback should be considered to

be a characteristic of the natural population dynamics of the

species.

Other forest declines are occurring in areas where the

air is contaminated by various potentially toxic

chemicals

and these cases might be triggered by air pollution. In North

America, prominent declines have occurred in ponderosa

pine (Pinus ponderosa), red spruce (Picea rubens) and sugar

maple (Acer saccharum). In western Europe, Norway spruce

(Picea abies) and beech (Fagus sylvatica) have been severely

affected.

The primary cause of the decline of ponderosa pine in

stands along the western slopes of the mountains of southern

California is believed to be the toxic effects of ozone. Pon-

derosa pine is susceptible to the effects of this gas at the

concentrations that are commonly encountered in the declin-

ing stands, and the symptomalogy of damage is fairly clear.

In the other cases of decline noted above that are

putatively related to air pollution, the evidence so far is less

convincing. The recent forest damage in Europe has been

described as a “new” decline syndrome that may in some

way be triggered by stresses associated with air pollution.

Although the symptoms appear to be similar, the “new”

decline is believed to be different from diebacks that are

known to have occurred historically and are believed to have

been natural. The modern decline syndrome was first noted

in fir (Abies alba) in Germany in the early 1970s. In the

early 1980s a larger-scale decline was apparent in Norway

spruce, the most commercially-important species of tree in

the region, and in the mid 1980s decline became apparent

in beech and oak (Quercus spp.).

Decline of this type has been observed in countries

throughout Europe, extending at least to western Russia.

The decline has been most intensively studied in Germany,

which has many severely damaged stands, although a wide-

spread dieback has not yet occurred. Decline symptoms are

variable in the German stands, but in general: (1) mature

stands older than about 60 years tend to be more severely

affected; (2) dominant individuals are relatively vulnerable;

and (3) individuals located at or near the edge of the stand

are more-severely affected, suggesting that a shielding effect

may protect trees in the interior. Interestingly, epiphytic

lichens

often flourish in badly damaged stands, probably

because of a greater availability of light and other resources

caused by the diminished cover of tree foliage. In some

respects this is a paradoxical observation, since lichens are

usually hypersensitive to air pollution, especially toxic gases.

From the information that is available, it appears that

the “new” forest decline in Europe is triggered by a variable

combination of environmental stresses. The weakened trees

588

then decline rapidly, and may die as a result of attack by

secondary agents such as fungal disease or insect attack.

Suggestions of the primary inducing factor include gaseous

air pollutants,

acidification

, toxic metals in soil, nutrient

imbalance, and a natural climatic effect, in particular

drought

. However, there is not yet a consensus as to which

of these interacting factors is the primary trigger that induces

forest decline in Europe, and it is possible that no single

stress will prove to be the primary cause. In fact, there may

be several “different” declines occurring simultaneously in

different areas.

The declines of red spruce and sugar maple in eastern

North America involve species that are long-lived and shade-

tolerant, but shallow-rooted and susceptible to drought. The

modern epidemic of decline in sugar maple began in the

late 1970s and early 1980s, and has been most prominent

in Quebec, Ontario, New York, and parts of New England.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the decline appeared

to reverse, and most stands became more healthy. The symp-

toms are similar to those described for an earlier dieback,

and include abnormal coloration, size, shape, and premature

abscission of foliage, death of branches from the top of the

tree downward, reduced productivity, and death of trees.

There is a frequent association with the pathogenic fungus

Armillaria mellea, but this is believed to be a secondary agent

that only attacks weakened trees. Many declining stands had

recently been severely defoliated by the forest tent caterpillar

(Malacosoma disstria), and many stands were tapped each

spring for sap to produce maple sugar. Because the declining

maple stands are located in a region subject to a high rate

atmospheric deposition

of acidifying substances, this

has been suggested as a possible predisposing factor, along

with soil acidification and mobilization of available

alumi-

num

. Natural causes associated with

climate

, especially

drought, have also been suggested. However, little is known

about the modern sugar maple decline, apart from the fact

that it occurred extensively; no conclusive statements can

yet be made about its causal factor(s).

The stand-level dieback of red spruce has been most

frequent in high-elevation sites of the northeastern United

States, especially in upstate New York, New England, and

the mid- and southern-Appalachian states. These sites are

variously subject to acidic precipitation (mean annual

about 4.0–4.1), to very acidic fog water (pH as low as 3.2–

3.5), to large depositions of sulfur and nitrogen from the

at-

mosphere

, and to stresses from metal toxicity in acidic soil.

Declines of red spruce are anecdotally known from

the 1870s and 1880s in the same general area where the

modern decline is occurring. Up to one-half of the mature

red spruce in the Adirondacks of New York was lost during

that early episode of dieback, and there was also extensive

damage in New England. As with the European forest de-

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Forest management

cline, the “old” and “new” episodes appear to have similar

symptoms, and it is possible that both occurrences are exam-

ples of the same kind of disease.

The hypotheses suggested to explain the initiation of

the modern decline of red spruce are similar to those pro-

posed for European forest decline. They include acidic depo-

sition, soil acidification, aluminum toxicity, drought, winter

injury exacerbated by insufficient hardiness due to nitrogen

fertilization,

heavy metals

in soil, nutrient imbalance, and

gaseous air pollution. Climate change, in particular a long

term warming that has occurred subsequent to the end of

the Little

Ice Age

in the early 1800s, may also be important.

At present, not enough is known about the etiology

of the forest declines in Europe and eastern North America

to allow an understanding of possible role(s) of air pollution

and of natural environmental factors. This does not necessar-

ily mean that air pollution is not involved. Rather, it suggests

that more information is required before any conclusive

statements can be made regarding the causes and effects of

the phenomenon of forest decline. See also Forest man-

agement

[Bill Freedman Ph.D.]

ESOURCES

OOKS

Barnard, J. E. “Changes in Forest Health and Productivity in the United

States and Canada.” In Acidic Deposition: State of Science and Technology.

Vol. 3, Terrestrial, Materials, Health, and Visibility Effects. Washington DC:

U. S. Government Printing Office, 1990.

Freedman, B. Environmental Ecology. Second Edition. San Diego: Aca-

demic Press, 1995.

ERIODICALS

Mueller-Dombois, D. “Natural Dieback in Forests.” Bioscience 37 (1987):

575–583.

Forest management

The question of how forest resources should be used goes

beyond the science of growing and harvesting trees; forest

management must solve the problems of balancing eco-

nomic, aesthetic, and biological value to entire ecosystems.

The earliest forest managers in North America were native

peoples, who harvested trees for building and burned forests

to make room for grazing animals. But many native popula-

tions were wiped out by European diseases soon after Euro-

peans arrived. By the mid-nineteenth century, it became

apparent to many Americans that overharvesting of timber

along with wasteful practices, such as uncontrolled burning

logging

waste, was denuding forests and threatening

future ecological and economic

stability

. The

Forest Ser-

vice

(established in 1905) began studying ways to preserve

589

forest resources for their economic as well as aesthetic, recre-

ational, and

wilderness

value.

From the 1600s to 1820s, 370 million acres (150 mil-

lion ha) of forests—about 34% of the United States’ total—

were cleared, leaving about 730 million acres (296 million

ha) today. Only 10–15% of the forests have never been

cut. Many previously harvested areas, however, have been

replanted and the annual growth now exceeds harvest overall.

But the nature of the forests has been altered, many believe

for the worse. If logging of old-growth forests were to con-

tinue at the rate maintained during the 1980s, all remaining

unprotected stands would be gone by 2015. Some 33,000

timber-related jobs could also be lost during that time, not

just from environmental protection but also from over-har-

vesting, increased mechanization, and increasing reliance on

foreign processing of whole logs cut from private lands.

Recent federal and court decisions, most notably to protect

the

northern spotted owl

in the United States, have slowed

the pace of old-growth harvesting and for now has put more

old forests under protection. But the questions of how to

use forest resources is still under fierce debate.

For decades,

clear-cutting

of tracts has been the stan-

dard forestry management practice. Favored by timber com-

panies, clear-cutting takes virtually all material from a tract.

But clear-cutting has come under increasing criticism from

environmentalists, who point out that the practice replaces

mixed-age, biologically diverse forests with single-age, single

or few

species

plantings. Clear-cutting also relies heavily

on roads to haul out timber, causing root damage,

topsoil

erosion

, and

siltation

of streams. Industry standards such

as “best management practices (BMPs)” prevent most ero-

sion and siltation by keeping roads away from stream beds.

But BMPs only address

water quality

. Clear-cutting also

removes small trees, snags, boles, and woody debris that are

important to invertebrates and

fungi

Rather than focusing on what is removed from a forest,

sustainable forest management focuses on what is left be-

hind. In

sustainable forestry

, tracts are never clear-cut:

instead, individual trees are selected and removed to maintain

diversity and health of the remaining

ecosystem

. Such

methods avoid artificial replanting, herbicides, insecticides,

and fertilizers. However, much debate remains on which

trees and how many are chosen for harvesting under sustain-

able forestry.

In a new management style known most commonly

as new forestry, 85–90% of trees on a site are harvested, and

the land is left alone for decades to recover. Proponents say

this method would cut down on erosion and increase diver-

sity left behind on a tract, especially where one or two species

dominate. The Forest Service and some Northwest states

are studying new forestry, but environmentalists say too little

is known about its effects on old-growth stands to use the

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Forest Service

practice. Timber companies say more and larger tracts would

have to be harvested under new forestry to meet demand.

Those who make their living from America’s forests,

and those who place value on the biological ecosystems they

support, must resolve the debate on how to best preserve

our forests. One-third of forest resources now come from

Forest Service lands, and the debate is an increasingly public

one, involving interests ranging from the

Sierra Club

and

sporting clubs to the

Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA), the Agriculture Department (and its largest agency,

the Forest Service), and timber companies and their employ-

ees. The future of our forests depends on balancing real

short-term needs with the high price of long-term forest

health.

[L. Carol Ritchie]

ESOURCES

OOKS

Lansky, M. Beyond the Beauty Strip: Saving What’s Left of Our Forests.

Gardiner, ME: Tilbury House Publishers, 1992.

ERIODICALS

Franklin, K. “Timber! The Forest Disservice.” The New Republic 200 (Janu-

ary 2, 1989): 12–14.

Gillis, A. M. “The New Forestry: An Ecosystem Approach to Land Man-

agement.” BioScience 40 (September 1990): 558–62.

McLean, H. E. “Paying the Price for Old Growth.” American Forests 97

(September-October 1991): 22–25.

Steen, H. K. “Americans and Their Forests: A Love-Hate Story.” American

Forests 98 (September-October 1992): 18–20.

Forest Service

The

national forest

system in the United States must be

considered one of the great success stories of the

conserva-

tion

movement. This remains true despite the continual

controversies that seem to accompany administration of na-

tional forest lands by the United States Forest Service.

The roots of the Forest Service began with the ap-

pointment in 1876 of Franklin B. Hough as a “forestry

agent” in the

U.S. Department of Agriculture

to gather

information about the nation’s forests. Ten years later, Bern-

hard E. Fernow was appointed chief of a fledgling Division

of Forestry. Part way through Fernow’s tenure, Congress

passed the Forest Reserve Act of 1891, which authorized

the president to withdraw lands from the public domain to

establish federal forest reserves. The public lands were to be

administered, however, by the General Land Office in the

U.S. Department of the Interior

Gifford Pinchot

succeeded Fernow in 1899 and was

Chief Forester when President

Theodore Roosevelt

ap-

proved the transfer of 63 million acres (25 million ha) of

590

forest reserves into the Department of Agriculture in 1905.

That same year, the name of the Bureau of Forestry was

changed to the United States Forest Service. Two years later,

the reserves were redesignated national forests.

The Forest Service today is organized into four admin-

istrative levels: the office of the Chief Forester in Washing-

ton, D.C.; nine regional offices; 155 national forests; and

637 ranger districts. The Forest Service also administers

twenty national

grasslands

. In addition, a research function

is served by a forest products laboratory in Madison, Wiscon-

sin, and eight other field research stations.

These lands are used for a wide variety of purposes

and given official statutory status with the passage of the

Multiple Use-Sustained Yield Act

of 1960. That act offi-

cially listed five uses--timber, water, range,

wildlife

, and

recreation--to be administered on national forest lands.

Wil-

derness

was later included. Forest Service now administers

more than 34 million acres (14 million ha) in 387 units of

the wilderness preservation system.

Despite a professionally trained staff and a sustained

spirit of public service, Forest Service administration and

management of national forest lands has been controversial

from the beginning. The agency has experienced repeated

attempts to transfer it to the Department of the Interior (or

once to a new Department of Natural Resources); its author-

ity to regulate grazing and timber use, including attempts

to transfer national forest lands into private hands, has been

frequently challenged and some of the Service’s management

policies have been the center of conflict. These policies have

included

clear-cutting

and “subsidized”

logging

, various

recreation

uses, preservation of the

northern spotted owl

and the cutting of old-growth forests in the Pacific

Northwest.

[Gerald L. Young Ph.D.]

ESOURCES

OOKS

Clary, D. A. Timber and the Forest Service. Lawrence: University Press of

Kansas, 1986.

O’Toole, R. Reforming the Forest Service. Washington, DC: Island Press,

1988.

Steen, H. K. The United States Forest Service: A History. Seattle: University

of Washington Press, 1976.

———. The Origins of the National Forests. Durham, NC: Forest History

Society, 1992.

RGANIZATIONS

Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Sidney R. Yates Federal

Building 201 14th Street, SW at Independence Ave., SW, Washington,

D.C. USA 20250 Email: wo_fs-contact@fs.fed.us, <http://www.fs.fed.us>

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Dr. Dian Fossey

Forestry Canada

see

Canadian Forest Service

Forests

see

Coniferous forest; Deciduous forest;

Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest;

National forest; Old-growth forest; Rain

forest; Taiga; Temperate rain forest; Tropical

rain forest

Dr. Dian Fossey (1932 – 1985)

American naturalist and primatologist

Dian Fossey is remembered by her fellow scientists as the

world’s foremost authority on mountain gorillas. But to the

millions of

wildlife

conservationists who came to know

Fossey through her articles and book, she will always be

remembered as a martyr. Throughout the nearly 20 years

she spent studying mountain gorillas in central Africa, the

American primatologist tenaciously fought the poachers and

bounty hunters who threatened to wipe out the endangered

primates. She was brutally murdered at her research center

in 1985 by what many believe was a vengeful poacher.

Fossey’s dream of living in the wilds of Africa dates

back to her lonely childhood in San Francisco. She was born

in 1932, the only child of George, an insurance agent, and

Kitty, a fashion model, (Kidd) Fossey. The Fosseys divorced

when Dian was six years old. A year later, Kitty married a

wealthy building contractor named Richard Price. Price was

a strict disciplinarian who showed little affection for his

stepdaughter. Although Fossey loved animals, she was al-

lowed to have only a goldfish. When it died, she cried for

a week.

Fossey began her college education at the University

of California at Davis in the preveterinary medicine program.

She excelled in writing and botany, she failed chemistry and

physics. After two years, she transferred to San Jose State

University, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in

occupational therapy in 1954. While in college, Fossey be-

came a prize-winning equestrian. Her love of horses in 1955

drew her from California to Kentucky, where she directed

the occupational therapy department at the Kosair Crippled

Children’s Hospital in Louisville.

Fossey’s interest in Africa’s gorillas was aroused

through primatologist George Schaller’s 1963 book, The

Mountain Gorilla: Ecology and Behavior. Through Schaller’s

book, Fossey became acquainted with the largest and rarest

of three subspecies of gorillas, Gorilla gorilla beringei. She

learned that these giant apes make their home in the moun-

tainous forests of Rwanda, Zaire, and Uganda. Males grow

591

up to 6 ft (1.8 m) tall and weigh 400 lb (182 kg) or more.

Their arms span up to 8 ft (2.4 m). The smaller females

weigh about 200 lb (91 kg).

Schaller’s book inspired Fossey to travel to Africa to

see the mountain gorillas in their homeland. Against her

family’s advice, she took out a three-year bank loan for

$8,000 to finance the seven-week safari. While in Africa,

Fossey met the celebrated paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey,

who had encouraged

Jane Goodall

in her research of

chim-

panzees

in Tanzania. Leakey was impressed by Fossey’s

plans to visit the mountain gorillas.

Those plans were nearly destroyed when she shattered

her ankle on a fossil dig with Leakey. But just two weeks

later, she hobbled on a walking stick up a mountain in the

Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) to her first

encounter with the great apes. The sight of six gorillas set

the course for her future. “I left Kabara (gorilla site) with

reluctance but with never a doubt that I would, somehow,

return to learn more about the gorillas of the misted moun-

tains,” Fossey wrote in her book, Gorillas in the Mist.

Her opportunity came three years later, when Leakey

was visiting Louisville on a lecture tour. Fossey urged him

to hire her to study the mountain gorillas. He agreed, if she

would first undergo a preemptive appendectomy. Six weeks

later, he told her the operation was unnecessary; he had only

been testing her resolve. But it was too late. Fossey had

already had her appendix removed.

The L.S.B. Leakey and the Wilkie Brothers founda-

tions funded her research, along with the National Geo-

graphic Society. Fossey began her career in Africa with a

brief visit to Jane Goodall in Tanzania to learn the best

methods for studying primates and collecting data.

Fossey set up camp early in 1967 at the Kabara meadow

in Zaire’s Parc National des Virungas, where Schaller had

conducted his pioneering research on mountain gorillas a

few years earlier. The site was ideal for Fossey’s research.

Because Zaire’s park system protected them against human

intrusion, the gorillas showed little fear of Fossey’s presence.

Unfortunately, civil war in Zaire forced Fossey to abandon

the site six months after she arrived.

She established her permanent research site September

24, 1967, on the slopes of the Virunga Mountains in the

tiny country of Rwanda. She called it the Karisoke Research

Centre, named after the neighboring Karisimbi and Visoke

mountains in the Parc National des Volcans. Although Kari-

soke was just five miles from the first site, Fossey found

a marked difference in Rwanda’s gorillas. They had been

harassed so often by poachers and cattle grazers that they

initially rejected all her attempts to make contact.

Theoretically, the great apes were protected from such

intrusion within the park. But the government of the impov-

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Dr. Dian Fossey

Dian Fossey photographing mountain gorillas

in Zaire. (AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by per-

mission.)

erished, densely populated country failed to enforce the park

rules. Native Batusi herdsmen used the park to trap antelope

and buffalo, sometimes inadvertently snaring a gorilla. Most

trapped gorillas escaped, but not without seriously mutilated

limbs that sometimes led to gangrene and death. Poachers

who caught gorillas could earn up to $200,000 for one by

selling the skeleton to a university and the hands to tourists.

From the start, Fossey’s mission was to protect the endan-

gered gorillas from extinction—indirectly, by researching

and writing about them, and directly, by destroying traps

and chastising poachers.

Fossey focused her studies on some 51 gorillas in four

family groups. Each group was dominated by a sexually

mature silverback, named for the characteristic gray hair on

its back. Younger, bachelor males served as guards for the

silverback’s harem and their juvenile offspring.

When Fossey began observing the reclusive gorillas,

she followed the advice of earlier scientists by concealing

herself and watching from a distance. But she soon realized

that the only way she would be able to observe their behavior

as closely as she wanted was by “habituating” the gorillas to

her presence. She did so by mimicking their sounds and

behavior. She learned to imitate their belches that signal

contentment, their barks of curiosity, and a dozen other

592

sounds. To convince them she was their kind, Fossey pre-

tended to munch on the foliage that made up their diet.

Her tactics worked. One day early in 1970, Fossey made

history when a gorilla she called Peanuts reached out and

touched her hand. Fossey called it her most rewarding mo-

ment with the gorillas.

She endeared laymen to Peanuts and the other gorillas

she studied through her articles in National Geographic

magazine. The apes became almost human through her de-

scriptions of their nurturing and playing. Her early articles

dispelled the myth that gorillas are vicious. In her 1971

National Geographic article she described the giant beasts as

ranking among “the gentlest animals, and the shiest.” In

later articles, Fossey acknowledged a dark side to the gorillas.

Six of 38 infants born during a 13-year-period were victims

of infanticide. She speculated the practice was a silverback’s

means of perpetuating his own lineage by killing another

male’s offspring so he could mate with the victim’s mother.

Three years into her study, Fossey realized she would

need a doctoral degree to continue receiving support for

Karisoke. She temporarily left Africa to enroll at Cambridge

University, where she earned her Ph.D. in zoology in 1974.

In 1977, Fossey suffered a tragedy that would permanently

alter her mission at Karisoke. Digit, a young male she had

grown to love, was slaughtered by poachers. Walter Cronkite

focused national attention on the gorillas’ plight when he

reported Digit’s death on the CBS Evening News. Interest

in gorilla

conservation

surged. Fossey took advantage of

that interest by establishing the Digit Fund, a non-profit

organization to raise money for anti-poaching patrols and

equipment.

Unfortunetly, the money wasn’t enough to save the

gorillas from poachers. Six months later, a silverback and

his mate from one of Fossey’s study groups were shot and

killed defending their three-year-old son, who had been shot

in the shoulder. The juvenile later died from his wounds. It

was rumored that the gorilla deaths caused Fossey to suffer

a nervous breakdown, although she denied it. What is clear

is that the deaths prompted her to step up her fight against

the Batusi poachers by terrorizing them and raiding their

villages. “She did everything short of murdering those poach-

ers,” Mary Smith, senior assistant editor at National Geo-

graphic, told contributor Cynthia Washam in an interview.

A serious calcium deficiency that causes bones to snap and

teeth to rot forced Fossey to leave Africa in 1980. She spent

her three-year sojourn as a visiting associate professor at

Cornell University. Fossey completed her book, Gorillas in

the Mist, during her stint at Cornell. It was published in

1983. Although some scientists criticized the book for its

abundance of anecdotes and lack of scientific discussion, lay

readers and reviewers received it warmly.

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Fossil fuels

When Fossey returned to Karisoke in 1983, her scien-

tific research was virtually abandoned. Funding had run dry.

She was operating Karisoke with her own savings. “In the

end, she became more of an animal activist than a scientist,”

Smith said. “Science kind of went out the window.”

On Dec. 27, 1985, Fossey, 54, was found murdered

in her bedroom at Karisoke, her skull split diagonally from

her forehead to the corner of her mouth. Her murder remains

a mystery that has prompted much speculation. Rwandan

authorities jointly charged American research assistant

Wayne McGuire, who discovered Fossey’s body, and Em-

manuel Rwelekana, a Rwandan tracker Fossey had fired

several months earlier. McGuire maintains his innocence.

At the urging of U.S. authorities, he left Rwanda before the

charges against him were made public. He was convicted in

absentia and sentenced to die before a firing squad if he ever

returns to Rwanda.

Farley Mowat, the Canadian author of Fossey’s biogra-

phy, Woman in the Mists, believes McGuire was a scapegoat.

He had no motive for killing her, Mowat wrote, and the

evidence against him appeared contrived. Rwelekana’s story

will never be known. He was found dead after apparently

hanging himself a few weeks after he was charged with the

murder. Smith, and others, believe Fossey’s death came at

the hands of a vengeful poacher. “I feel she was killed by a

poacher,” Smith said. “It definitely wasn’t any mysterious

plot.”

Fossey’s final resting place is at Karisoke, surrounded

by the remains of Digit and more than a dozen other gorillas

she had buried. Her legacy lives on in the Virungas, as her

followers have taken up her battle to protect the endangered

mountain gorillas. The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, formerly

the Digit Fund, finances scientific research at Karisoke and

employs camp staff, trackers and anti-poaching patrols.

The Rwanda government, which for years had ignored

Fossey’s pleas to protect its mountain gorillas, on September

27, 1990, recognized her scientific achievement with the

Ordre (sic) National des Grandes Lacs, the highest award

it has ever given a foreigner. Gorillas in Rwanda are still

threatened by cattle ranchers and hunters squeezing in on

their

habitat

. According to the Colorado-based Dian Fossey

Gorilla Fund, by the early 1990s, fewer than 650 mountain

gorillas remained in Rwanda, Zaire, and Uganda. The Vir-

unga Mountains is home to about 320 of them. Smith is

among those convinced that the number would be much

smaller if not for Fossey’s 18 years of dedication to save the

great apes. “Her conservation efforts stand above everything

else (she accomplished at Karisoke),” Smith said. “She sin-

gle-handedly saved the mountain gorillas.”

[Cynthia Washam]

593

ESOURCES

OOKS

Brower, Montgomery. “The Strange Death of Dian Fossey.” People, Febru-

ary 17, 1986, 46–54.

Fossey, D. Gorillas in the Mist. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983.

Hayes, H. T. P. The Dark Romance of Dian Fossey. Simon and Schuster,

1990.

Mowat, Farley. Woman in the Mists. Warner Books, 1987.

Schoumatoff, Alex. African Madness. Alfred A. Knopf, 1988.

Fossil fuels

In early societies, wood or other biological fuels were the

main energy source. Today in many non-industrial societies,

they continue to be used widely. Biological fuels may be

seen as part of a solar economy where energy is extracted

from the sun in a way that makes them renewable. However

industrialization requires energy sources at much higher den-

sity and these have generally been met through the use of

fossil fuels such as

coal

, gas, or oil. In the twentieth century

a number of other options such as nuclear or higher density

renewable energy

sources (wind power, hydro-electric

power, etc.) have also been available. Nevertheless fossil fuels

represent the principal source of energy for most of the

industrialized world.

Fossil fuels are types of sedimentary organic materials,

often loosely called bitumens, with asphalt, a solid, and

petroleum

, the liquid form. More correctly bitumens are

sedimentary organic materials that are soluble in

carbon

disulfide. It is this that distinguishes asphalt from coal, which

is an organic material largely insoluble in carbon disulfide.

Petroleum can probably be produced from any kind

of organism, but the fact that these sedimentary deposits

are more frequent in marine sediments has suggested that

oils arise from the fats and proteins in material deposited

on the sea floor. These fats would be stable enough to

survive the initial decay and burial but sufficiently reactive

to undergo conversion to petroleum

hydrocarbons

at low

temperature. Petroleum consists largely of paraffins or simple

alkanes, with smaller amounts of napthenes. There are traces

of aromatic compounds such as

benzene

present at the

percent level in most crude oils.

Natural gas

is an abundant

fossil fuel that consists largely of

methane

and ethane, al-

though traces of higher alkanes are present. In the past,

natural gas was regarded very much as a waste product of

the petroleum industry and was simply burnt or flared off.

Increasingly it is being seen as the favored fuel.

Coal, unlike petroleum, contains only a little

hydro-

gen

. Fossil evidence shows that coal is mostly derived from

the burial of terrestrial vegetation with its high proportion

of lignin and cellulose.

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Fossil fuels

Most sediments contain some organic matter, and this

can rise to many percent in shales. Here the organic matter

can consist of both coals and bitumens. This organic mate-

rial, often called sapropel, can be distilled to yield petroleum.

Oil shales containing the sapropel kerogen are very good

sources of petroleum. Shales are considered to have formed

where organic matter was deposited along with fine grain

sediments, perhaps in fjords, where restricted circulation

keeps the oxygen concentrations low enough to prevent decay

of the organic material.

Fossil fuels are mined or pumped from geological res-

ervoirs where they have been stored for long periods of time.

The more viscous fuels, such as heavy oils, can be quite

difficult to extract and refine, which has meant that the

latter half of the twentieth century has seen lighter oils being

favored. However, in recent decades natural gas has been

popular because it is easy to pipe and has a somewhat less

damaging impact on the

environment

. These fossil fuel

reserves, although large, are limited and non-renewable. The

total recoverable light to medium oil reserves are estimated

at about 1.6 trillion barrels, of which about a third has

already been used. Natural gas reserves are estimated at the

equivalent of 1.9 trillion barrels of oil and about a sixth has

already been used. Heavy oil and bitumen amount to about

0.6 and 0.34 trillion barrels, most of which has remained

unutilized. The gas and lighter oil reserves lie predominantly

in the eastern hemisphere, which accounts for the enormous

petroleum industries of the Middle East. The heavier oil

and bitumen reserves lie mostly in the western hemisphere.

These are more costly to use and have been for the most

part untapped. Of the 7.6-trillion ton coal reserve, only 2.5%

has been used. Almost two thirds of the available coal is

shared between China, the former Soviet Union, and the

United States.

Petroleum is not burnt in its crude form but must be

refined, which is essentially a distillation process that splits

the fuel into batches of different volatility. The lighter fuels

are used in automobiles, with heavier fuels used as diesel

and fuel oils. Modern refining can use chemical techniques

in addition to distillation to help make up for changing

demands in terms of fuel type and volatility.

The

combustion

of fuels represents an important

source of air pollutants. Although the combustion process

itself can lead to the production of pollutants such as carbon

nitrogen oxides

, it has often been the trace impurities in

fossil fuels that have been the greatest source of

air pollution

Natural gas is a much favored fuel because it has only traces

of impurities such as hydrogen sulfide. Many of these impu-

rities are removed from the gas by relatively simple scrubbing

techniques, before it is distributed. Oil is refined, so although

it contains more impurities than natural gas, these become

redistributed in the refining process. Sulfur compounds tend

594

to be found only in trace amounts in the light automotive

fuels. Thus automobiles are only a minor source of

sulfur

dioxide

in the

atmosphere

. Diesel oil can have as much

as a percent of sulfur, and heavier fuel oils can have even

more, so in some situations these can represent important

sources of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere. Oils also dissolve

metals from the rocks in which they are present. Some of

the organic compounds in oil have a high affinity for metals,

most notably

nickel

and vanadium. Such metals can reach

high concentration in oils, and refining will mean that most

become concentrated in the heavier fuel oils. Combustion

of fuel oil will yield ashes that contain substantial fractions

of the trace metals present in the original oil. This means

that an element like vanadium is a useful marker of fuel oil

combustion.

Coal is often seen as the most polluting fuel because

low grade coals can contain large quantities of ash, sulfur,

and

chlorine

. However, it should be emphasized that the

quantity of impurities in coal can vary widely, depending on

where it is mined. The sulfur present in coal is found both

as iron pyrites (inorganic) and bound up with organic matter.

The

nitrogen

in coal is almost all organic nitrogen. Coal

users are often careful to choose a fuel that meets their

requirements in terms of the amount of ash,

smoke

pollution

risk it imposes. High rank coals such as anthracite

have a high carbon content. They are mined in locations

such as Pennsylvania and South Wales and contain little

volatile matter and burn almost smokelessly. Much of the

world’s coal reserve is bituminous, which means that it con-

tains about 20–25% volatile matter.

The fuel industry is often seen as responsible for pollut-

ants and environmental risks that go beyond those produced

by the combustion of its products. Mining and extraction

processes result in

spoil

heaps, huge holes in open cast

mining, and the potential for slumping of land (conventional

mining). Petroleum refineries are large sources of hydrocar-

bons, although not usually the largest

anthropogenic

source

of volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere. Refineries

also release sulfur, carbon, and nitrogen oxides from the

fuel that they burn. Liquid natural gas and

oil spills

are

experienced both in the refining and transport of petroleum.

Being a solid, coal presents somewhat less risk when

being transported, although wind-blown coal dust can cause

localized problems. Coal is sometimes converted to coke or

other refined products such as Coalite, a smokeless coal.

These derivatives are less polluting, although much concern

has been expressed about the pollution damage that occurs

near the factories that manufacture them. Despite this, the

conversion of coal to less polluting synthetic solid, and liquid

and gaseous fuels would appear to offer much opportunity

for the future.

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Four Corners

One of the principal concerns about the current reli-

ance on fossil fuels relates not so much to their limited

supply, but more to the fact that combustion releases such

large amounts of

carbon dioxide

. Our use of fossil fuels

over the last century has increased the concentration of car-

bon dioxide in the atmosphere. Already there is mounting

evidence that this has increased the temperature of the earth

through an enhanced

greenhouse effect

[Peter Brimblecombe]

ESOURCES

OOKS

Campbell, I. M. Energy and the Atmosphere. New York: Wiley, 1986.

Fossil water

Water that occurs in an

aquifer

zone of saturation

protected or isolated from the current

hydrologic cycle

This water, because it is old, does not have the levels of

chemicals

or contaminants used in of our industrialized

society, and its unblemished

nature

often makes it prized

drinking water. In other cases, however, these aquifers are

so isolated and the original condition of the water is so high

in inorganic salts that scientists have suggested using them

for waste disposal or containment areas. See also Drinking-

water supply; Groundwater; Hazardous waste siting; Water

quality

Four Corners

The Hopi believe that the Four Corners—where Colorado,

Utah, New Mexico and Arizona meet—is the center of the

universe and holds all life on Earth in balance. It also has

some of the largest deposits of

coal

uranium

, and

oil shale

in the world. According to the

National Academy of Sci-

ences

the Four Corners is a “national sacrifice area.” This

ancestral home of the Hopi and Dineh (Navajo) people is

the center of the most intense energy development in the

United States. Traditional grazing and farm land are being

swallowed up by uranium mines, coal mines, and

power

plants

The Four Corners, sometimes referred to as the “joint-

use area,” is comprised of 1.8 million acres (729,000 ha) of

high

desert

plateau where Navajo sheep herders have grazed

their flocks on idle Hopi land for generations. In 1972

Congress passed Public Law (PL) 93-531, which established

the Navajo/Hopi Relocation Commission who had the

power to enforce livestock reduction and the removal of

over 10,000 traditional Navajo and Hopi, the largest forced

relocation within the United States since the Japanese intern-

595

ment during World War II. Elders of both Nations issued

a joint statement that officially opposed the relocation: “The

traditional Hopi and Dineh (Navajo) realize that the so-

called dispute is used as a disguise to remove both people

from the JUA (joint use area), and for non-Indians to develop

the land and mineral resources...Both the Hopi and Dineh

agree that their ancestors lived in harmony, sharing land and

prayers for more than four hundred years...and cooperation

between us will remain unchanged.”

The traditional Navajo and Hopi leaders have been

replaced by Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) tribal councils.

These councils, in association with the

U.S. Department

of the Interior

, Peabody Coal, the Mormon Church, attor-

neys and public relation firms, created what is commonly

known as the “Hopi-Navajo land dispute” to divide the joint-

use area, so that the area could be opened up for energy

development.

In 1964, 223 Southwest utility companies formed a

consortium known as the Western Energy and Supply

Transmission Associates (WEST) which includes water and

power authorities on the West Coast as well as Four Corners

area utility companies. WEST drafted plans for massive coal

surface mining

operations and six coal-fired, electricity-

generating plants on Navajo and Hopi land. By 1966 John

S. Boyden, attorney for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Hopi

Tribal Council, secured lease arrangements with Peabody

Coal to surface mine 58,000 acres (23,490 ha) of Hopi land

and contracted WEST to build the power plants. This was

done despite objections by the traditional Hopi leaders and

the self-sufficient Navajo shepherds. Later that same year

Kennecott

Copper

, owned in part by the Mormon Church,

bought Peabody Coal. Peabody supplies the Four Corners’

power plant with coal. The plant burned 5 million tons of

coal a year which is the equivalent of ten tons per minute.

It emits over 300 tons of

fly ash

and other particles into

the San Juan River Valley every day. Since 1968 the coal

mining operations and the power plant have extracted over

60 million gal (227 million l) of water a year from the Black

Mesa

water table

, which has caused extreme

desertifica-

tion

of the area, causing the ground in some areas to sink

by up to 12 ft (3.6 m).

The worst nuclear accident in American history oc-

curred at Church Rock, New Mexico, on July 26, 1979,

when a Kerr-McGee uranium

tailings pond

spilled over

into the Rio Puerco. The spill contaminated drinking water

from Church Rock to the

Colorado River

, over 200 mi

(322 km) to the west. The mill

tailings

dam broke—two

months prior to the break cracks in the dam structure were

detected yet repairs were never made—and discharged over

100 million gal (379 million l) of highly radioactive water

directly into the Rio Puerco River. The main source of

potable water for over 1,700 Navahoes was contaminated.

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Fox hunting

When Kerr-McGee abandoned the Shiprock site in 1980

they left behind 71 acres (29 ha) of “raw” uranium tailings,

which retained 85% of the original

radioactivity

of the ore

at the mining site. The tailings were at the edge of the San

Juan River and have since contaminated communities located

downstream.

What is the future of the Four Corners area, with its

100 plus uranium mines, uranium mills, five power plants,

depleted

watershed

and radioactive contamination? One

“solution” offered by the United States government is to

zone the land into uranium mining and milling districts so

as to forbid human habitation.

[Debra Glidden]

ESOURCES

OOKS

Garrity, M. “The U.S. Colonial Empire Is As Close As the Nearest Reserva-

tion.” In Trilateralism: The Trilateral Commission and Elite Planning For

World Management. Boston: South End Press, 1980.

Kammer, J. The Second Long Walk: The Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute. Albu-

querque: University of New Mexico Press, 1980.

Moskowitz, M. Everybody’s Business. New York: Harper and Row, 1980.

Scudder, T., et al. Expected Impacts of Compulsory Relocation on Navajos,

with Special Emphasis on Relocation from the Former Joint Use Area Required

by Public Law 93-531. Binghamton, NY: Institute for Development of

Anthropology, 1979.

ERIODICALS

Tso, H., and L. Shields. “Navajo Mining Operations: Early Hazards and

Recent Interventions.” New Mexico Journal of Science 20 (June 1980): 13.

Fox hunting

Fox

hunting

is the sport of mounted riders chasing a wild

fox with a pack of hounds. The sport is also known as riding

to the hounds, because the fox is pursued by horseback riders

following the hounds that chase the fox. The specially trained

hounds pursue the fox by following its scent. The riders are

called the “field” and their leader is called the “master of the

foxhounds.rdquo; A huntsman manages the pack of hounds.

Foxhunting originated in England, and dates back to

the Middle Ages. People hunted foxes because they were

predators that killed farm animals such as chickens and

sheep. Rules were established reserving the hunt to royalty,

the aristocracy (people given titles by royalty), and landown-

ers. As the British Empire expanded, the English brought

fox hunting to the lands they colonized. The first fox hunt

in the United States was held in Maryland in 1650, according

to the Masters of Foxhounds Association (MFHA), the

organization that controls foxhunting in the United States.

Although the objective of most fox hunts is to kill the

fox, some hunts do not involve any killing. In a drag hunt,

596

hounds chase the scent of a fox on a trail prepared before

the hunt. In the United States, a hunt ends successfully

when the fox goes into a hole in the ground called the

“earth.”

In Great Britain, a campaign to outlaw fox hunting

started in the late twentieth century. The subject drew strong

debate on an issue that had not been resolved by March

of 2002.

Organized hunt supporters like the Countryside Alli-

ance said a hunting ban would result in the loss of 14,000

jobs. In addition, advocates said that hunts help to eliminate

a rural threat by controlling the fox population. Hunt sup-

porters described foxes as vermin, a category of destructive,

disease-bearing animals. Hunting was seen as less cruel than

other methods of eliminating foxes.

Opponents called foxhunting a “blood sport “ that was

cruel to animals. According to the International Fund for

Animal Welfare (IAFW), more than 15,000 foxes are killed

during the 200 hunts held each year. The IAFW reported

that young dogs are trained to hunt by pitting them against

fox cubs. The group wants the British Parliament to outlaw

fox hunting. Drag hunting was suggested as a more humane

alternative.

Another opposition group, the Nottingham Hunt

Saboteurs Association, attempts to disrupt “blood sports”

through “non-violent direct action.” Saboteurs’ methods in-

clude trying to distract hounds by laying false scent trails,

shouting, and blowing horns.

Both supporters and opponents of fox hunting claim

public support for their positions. In 1997, the issue of a

ban was brought to Parliament, the British national legisla-

tive body consisting of the House of Lords and the House

of Commons. That year, the Labour Party won the general

election and proposed a bill to ban hunting with hounds.

The following year, the bill passed through some legislative

readings. However, time ran out before a final vote was

taken.

In July 1999, Prime Minister Tony Blair promised to

make fox hunting illegal. That November, Home Secretary

Jack Straw called for an inquiry to study the effect of a ban

on the rural economy. The Burns Inquiry concluded in June

2000 that a hunting ban would result in the loss of between

6,000 and 8,000 jobs. The inquiry did not find evidence

that being chased was painful for foxes. However, the inquiry

stated that foxes did not die immediately. This conclusion

about a slower, painful death echoed opponents’ charges that

hunting was a cruel practice.

Two months before the inquiry was released, Straw

proposed that lawmakers should have several options to vote

on. One choice was a ban on fox hunting; another was to

make no changes. A third option was to tighten fox hunting

regulations.