Alaska Region

Alaska Region » Outdoor Ethics

Outdoor Ethics: Chugach & Tongass National Forests

Related Links Leave No Trace on the Chugach and Tongass National Forests Four Threats to the Health of the Nation's Forests and Grasslands Forest Service Facts on Climate Change Ethics for recreating in bear country

Why Do We Need Outdoor Ethics?

Wildness is going away!

~ John Muir, lamenting the damming of Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, in 1913.

Nature is strained

According to a recent report in Science Magazine, only 17% of the world's land area has escaped direct influence by humans. The extent of human modification in our country is reflected in these facts about the Lower 48 States:

• 98% of the more than three million miles of streams have had their ecosystems modified by dams, water diversions or significant development. Only 2% remain free flowing and natural such that they qualify for potential wild and scenic designation. (USDA Forest Service, 2004)

• 300 distinct native stocks of salmon, steelhead, and sea run cutthroat are at risk in the Pacific Northwest. (USDA Forest Service, 2004)  In the Atlantic northeast of the U.S. there are only eight rivers where native salmon populations occur, all of which are listed as endangered.  (NOAA/NMFS and US Fish & Wildlife Service, 2000)

• Brown bears have been eliminated from 98% of their historical range. (USGS National Biological Service, 1995)  Current numbers comprise about 2% of the original population (down to 1,200 – 1,400 from 50,000). (US Fish & Wildlife Service, n.d.)

• At some time in the last 500 years, 95 percent of all U.S. forests were cut, leaving few old-growth timber stands. 50% of wetlands have been drained or filled. (US Fish & Wildlife Service, 2002)

In contrast, Alaska remains comparatively wild, with free-flowing rivers, healthy salmon runs and bear populations and significant intact old-growth forest and wetlands. We must not take this wildness for granted or it will vanish as it has elsewhere. We must strive to understand how humanity presses nature and seek to blend our existence with nature such that Alaska's wildness endures. We do this by embracing outdoor ethics.

Outdoor Ethics

Aldo Leopold, the father of modern conservation biology, details in A Sand County Almanac how we must adopt a "land ethic:"

A land ethic, then, reflects the existence of an ecological conscience, and this in turn reflects a conviction of individual responsibility for the health of land. Health is the capacity of the land for self-renewal. Conservation is our effort to understand and preserve this capacity.

                                           Photo Credit: Don MacDougall

In coastal Alaska, the land renews itself through untrammeled processes: rivers, salmon, bears and old-growth forest entwine in ancient harmony. Roots of old trees hold the soil together and prevent sedimentation of rivers. Trees toppled in wind or old age form pools and gravel beds where salmon may rest or spawn. Bears depend on the spawning salmon to fatten up for the winter. Bears carry the fish carcasses into the woods where the unconsumed portions decompose and provide rich nutrients to the soil. These salmon-enriched soils nourish the trees that mature into majestic old-growth. This cycle has been occurring for thousands of years along thousands of miles of rivers involving millions of fish and thousands of bears.

We must understand these timeless rhythms of nature and take responsibility to see that they endure. By appreciating the interconnected dynamics of our environment and by striving to reduce our impacts, we cultivate strong outdoor ethics and ensure that our Alaskan community remains healthy.

That land is a community is a basic concept of ecology, but that land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics.

~Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 1949.

Ethical Practices for Our Public Lands

Leave No Trace (LNT) is a set of principles that codifies outdoor ethics and protects the natural integrity of our public lands. By promoting and following these principles, you blend your visit with the natural environment and serve as a steward of our public lands. Click here for information on Leave No Trace on the Chugach and Tongass National Forests. For additional information on Leave No Trace in general, visit www.LNT.org or call 1.800.332.4100.

For outdoor enthusiasts who use motorized or mechanized vehicles (e.g. off-road vehicles, mountain bikes, jet skis, snowmobiles, motor boats, etc.), Tread Lightly! is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting ethical vehicular recreation on our lands and waters. Please visit www.treadlightly.org or call 1.800.966.9900 for more information.

What is the human part of the mountain's destiny?

~ John Muir, 1875.

Sources:

John Muir quote: Wildness....:  Hott, L. and Garey, D. (1989).  The Wilderness Idea [motion picture]. U.S.A.: Direct Cinema Limited.

Only 17% of Earth Unimpacted: Kareiva, P., Watts, S., McDonald, R. & Boucher T., (2007). Domesticated Nature: Shaping Landscapes and Ecosystems for Human Welfare. Science, 316 (5833), pp. 1866 - 1869. Retrieved 19 Feb 2008 from: Science Magazine (29 June 2007)

Rivers: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. “Fish and other aquatic resource trends in the United States: A technical document supporting the 2000 USDA Forest Service RPA Assessment.” By Loftus, Andrew J.; Flather, Curtis H. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-53, 7 July 2004, p.4. Retrieved 12 Sept. 2006 from <http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr053.pdf > 

 Click here for a 4.2Mb pdf of this report.

Pacific NW Salmon : USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. “Fish and other aquatic resource trends in the United States: A technical document supporting the 2000 USDA Forest Service RPA Assessment.” By Loftus, Andrew J.; Flather, Curtis H. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-53. 7 July 2004, p.23. Retrieved 12 Sept. 2006 from <http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr053.pdf >

Click here for a 4.2Mb pdf of this report.

U.S. Atlantic Salmon : NOAA/NMFS and US Fish & Wildlife Service. “Guide To the Listing of A Distinct Population Segment of Atlantic Salmon as Endangered.” By Liles G., Frady T., and Weaver D. Nov. 2000, p.2. Retrieved 12 Sept. 2006 from <http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/press_release/2000/salmonguide00.01.pdf>

Click here for a 75kb pdf of this report.

Brown bears range: US Dept of Interior, USGS National Biological Service. “Our Living Resources: A Report to the Nation on the Distribution, Abundance, and Health of U.S. Plants, Animals, and Ecosystems.” By Mattson and others, 1995, p.103. Retrieved 12 Sept. 2006 from <http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/noframe/c032.htm>

Click here for a 1.4Mb pdf of this report.

Brown bears population: US Fish & Wildlife Service. “Grizzly Bear Recovery Home Page.” Retrieved 9 March 2007 from: < http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/species/mammals/grizzly/ >

Old Growth Forests and Wetlands: US Fish & Wildlife Service. “Finding Solutions to Habitat Loss.” Jan. 2002, pp.1-2. Retrieved 12 Sept. 2006 from: http://www.fws.gov/birds/documents/HabitatLoss.pdf

Click here for a 38kb pdf of this report.

Aldo Leopold quotes:  Leopold, Aldo. (1949). A Sand County Almanac. New York: Ballantine Books (11th printing), pp. 258 & xix.

Leopold's Land Ethic is an essay that offers more detail about Aldo Leopold's philosophy.  

A Sand County Almanac is an essay describing Leopold's classic book.

These two essays are from the Aldo Leopold Foundation website.

John Muir quote: What is...? :   Muir, John. To Yosemite and Beyond: Writings from the Years 1863 to 1875. Ed. Engberg, R.and Wesling, D.  Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1980, p.162.

USDA Forest Service - Alaska Region
Last Modified: Thursday, 10 April 2008