Introduction to Forestry (MCGRAW HILL SERIES IN FOREST RESOURCES)

This fifth edition offers a realistic and consistent perspective on a subject that is both complex and fraught with controversy. Several of the chapters have been contributed by well-known authorities who provide an insider's knowledge of the bureaucracies involved. This thoroughly revised volume stresses the political and social nature of forestry decisions. All information and statistics have also been updated since the fourth edition. There are new chapters: one on computer use,summarizing the importance of computers both in field work and in the office,and another on attempts to formulate a national plan for forestry,providing insights into the conflict between government and private industry as well as a revealing view of government trying to set its own forests in order. In a chapter on Canada's and Mexico's forests,the authors treat North America as an ecological continuum,encouraging an international perspective and a recognition of Canada and Mexico as both competitors and potential markets. This chapter also includes a map of the vegetation types of the Republic of Mexico. An absorbing and comprehensive chapter on fire management not only outlines fire control principles,but deals with fire as an ecological agent and discusses its place in forest management.