Development Triples in National Forests

One of the most comprehensive studies of development in and around national forests spells out the size of some potential threats. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

One of the most comprehensive studies of development in and around national
forests spells out the size of some potential threats. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:


The study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison looked at a half century of
government census data on national forests. The results show the number of
housing units within national forest boundaries tripled between the years 1950
and 2000. There’s also been a big increase in development within a 30 mile
radius of the forests.


Researcher Volker Radeloff says development has brought in more invasive
species… and narrowed the wildlife corridors between forests. He says he realizes
many communities want to grow.


“The danger is if it’s not occurring in a consensus driven or planning process then the
decisions will be made for these communities… and what that means is increasing isolation of
these forests and strong environmental effects.”


Radeloff says in the Great Lakes region, much of the development in and around national forests
is from people building second homes or recreational housing.


For the GLRC, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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