Sandico 1

Lauren Sandico

Professor Ludwig

H English 101

06 December 2017

The Prosperity of the Forests

The essay excerpt titled Prosperity," written by Gifford Pinchot, talks about the

conservation of resources in the United States. The context of this excerpt is easy to analyze.

Pinchot is addressing the people living in the United States, specifically the home builders,

timber business, and coal business owners. These specific types of people are mentioned in his

writing. The essay was written in 1910, only a year after Theodore Roosevelts term as president.

During his presidency, Roosevelt opened a lot of national parks and supported the preservation

of natures beauty. On the other hand, Pinchot does not believe that the environment should be

preserved rather he supports the use of trees. Although he believes in the usage of forests

resources, he also warns people to conserve and carefully use them. The author writes in a

persuasive way by using statistical value, emotional appeal, and a call to action as evidence for

his essay. His way of writing may make people feel that they should do something about

conserving natures resources and restricting the destruction of forests. A damaging technique of

deforestation called clear cutting, when large swaths of land are cut down all at once, is

currently common because of its fast result (Bradford). Pinchot argued in the early 1900s that

deforestation will become a serious issue, if people continue to use natural resources abundantly;

due to the lack of care, scientists now believe that people have made an immense problem to an

already prominent issue, and so we must stop using harmful techniques, like clear cutting, that
 Sandico 2

speed up the process of deforestation and reduce deforestation in general if we still wish to have

our planet and its natural resources in the future.

The main point of this essay is to inform and convince Pinchots targeted audience to

support his stance. Pinchot believes that the forest and other natural sources of supply should be

used by the people because natures resources are for the people. His use of repetition as a

persuasive tactic is visibly noticeable throughout this essay excerpt. For example, he explains

what will happen when the destruction of forage plants occurs which is by loss of surface soil

through erosion; by forest destruction; by corresponding deterioration in the water supply; and

by a serious decrease in the quality and weight of animals grown on overgrazed lands (Pinchot

176). Although he truly believes in the usage of nature, he also advises people to be careful in

using it because these resources are exhaustible. People are entitled to use these resources,

however they still need to conserve and only consume as needed. In addition to repetition,

Pinchot conveys his point with statistical information about the current standing of America. His

use of repetition and logos are tactics that push for a call to action from his audience. Pinchot is

stating information to make readers aware of their usage and advocating change on their over-

usage; he enlightens readers by pointing out peoples misconceptions about natural resources.

In the beginning of the essay, he informed the readers about the common fallacy

individuals choose to believe. Pinchot claims people think that the world has an inexhaustible

amount of natural resources for everyone; with the continuous increase in population, sooner or

later the planet would not have enough resources to support everyone (Pinchot 173). Consumers

use up natural resources unwisely, due to the belief that the earth will never be out of stock.

People tend to believe natural resources are bottomless because up until now, resources are still

available. The effect does not seem to be a big impact in peoples lives because they are still able
 Sandico 3

to buy products coming from trees and other natural resources. It is difficult to act on something,

if people do not feel the effects of the problem. He continues to convince people that trees and

other natural resources are not inexhaustible, which is a big misunderstanding. Pinchot states

the term inexhaustible applied to other natural resources is false because nothing in this

world is unlimited (Pinchot 175). The earth having an ample number of trees and forest does not

necessarily imply that natural resources are infinite. This is a significant problem because most

individuals believe that the more products we make, the more people should use them. Usage of

resources increases when products are overproduced which can potentially lead to people

wasting more. This correlates to the economic strategy of supply and demand, which is the idea

of producing certain produce consumers continually buy. Because humans cannot clearly see or

feel the impact of deforestation in their lives, the need for conservation does not present itself as

an important or urgent issue.

People are uninformed of facts and statistics to make them understand the true situation

of deforestation in America and around the world. A short definition of deforestation is the

cutting of trees or a whole forest for resources; mainly, to free the land to be used for other

purposes. Studies show that about 90 percent of continental United States indigenous forest has

been removed since 1600 (Bradford). This statistical fact proves that deforestation is a

tremendous and detrimental problem that people must acknowledge. The sad reality that people

are only left with less than ten percent of their forest should be an alarming wake up call for

society. Deforestation is even more frightening due to the rate of population increase; the more

people in the world the more natural resources are needed to sustain their needs and desires.

According to researchers, assuming recent rates of human population growth are

maintainedthe Earths population will approach 10 billion around 2100 and to be able to
 Sandico 4

support this massive population, agricultural areas would have to be increased by 43%

(Longobardi). This shows the immense need for natural resources in the future because of the

exponential growing population. Understanding the presented statistics, it would undoubtedly be

hard to provide for more people, if we have fewer trees to work with. If deforestation remains or

continues to increase at an alarming rate, there will no longer be trees to use in the next

generation.

Pinchots claim about people believing that natural resources are inexhaustible seemed to

be true according to researched facts. The evidence fully agreed that with the current rate of

consumption, natural resources would soon be insufficient for future generations. This statistical

information serves as an indication that trees are going scarce; if people continue to use

resources unwisely, the world will soon lack forests, leading to the lack of natural resources

needed daily. It is terrifying to know that there will no longer be trees if we do not act upon

changing our wasteful ways. Because all research proved his claim to be true, people should be

aware that their day to day consumption of resources may be one of the many reasons why the

Earth is slowly deteriorating. Even though deforestation provides new land opportunities, it also

permanently damages those lands.

There are a lot of reason why deforestation exists. Out of all the causes, the biggest

direct cause of tropical deforestation is conversion to cropland and pasture, mostly for

subsistence, which is growing crops or raising livestock to meet daily needs (Tropical...).

Ironically, companies destroy resources, the trees, to make room and grow resources. People

tend to neglect the many effects of deforestation because it is somewhat replaced by something

beneficial like crops and food. Most benefits can be attained in another way; an alternative that

does not destroy other natural resources. The effect of deforestation is even worst; forest land
 Sandico 5

become more fire-prone and are [more prone to] accidental fires from adjacent farms or

pastures (Tropical...). It is true that deforestation frees land, however it also makes the forest

dangerous. The land has become a hazard making it impractical to use the land. Because of side

effect of deforestation, the land had become a danger zone that makes it risky to even use for

farming. Deforestation damages land and soil that also effects many external factors like people,

climate change, and etc.

Many different sustainability issues are mentioned in Pinchots essay; one in particular is

deforestation and its effects on the environment. He explains that the destruction of forage

plants is accompaniedby forest destruction (Pinchot 176). In other words, deforestation has

gotten so out of hand that even if people intend to only utilize a part of a land, they end up

destroying much more than they think. Because of the increase in demand for products, the

pressure for making supplies faster increased as well. Due to pressure brought by consumers,

companies try to produce products rapidly in the most inconvenient way. These fast ways of

deforesting are only beneficial to the company because they gain more money, but they greatly

damage the land and soil making them useless after deforestation. When the forest fails, all

forms of building industries will suffer with it, and the occupants of houses, offices, and stores

must pay the added cost (Pinchot 178). When things are rare, they tend to be more expensive.

Basically, Pinchot is saying if people do not conserve trees, everyone will be burdened with its

effect. For example, one of the causes of deforestation is to make space for building house and in

general, buildings. If people continue to cut down trees to make room for houses and buildings,

the lack of trees may result in an absence of materials needed to construct those structures.

These fast methods of deforestation, such as clear cutting, are damaging the lands and

their surroundings. According to the Natural Resources Defense Councilclear cutting as [is]
 Sandico 6

an ecological trauma that has no precedent in nature except for a major volcanic eruption

(Bradford). The effect of clear-cutting is compared harshly with the detrimental effect of lava

penetrating land. With the clear comparison to a natural disaster with damaging effects, clear-

cutting is conveyed to be as harmful as a catastrophe; it could potentially ruin not only the

intended area but also the areas surrounding its premises. By using a slower technique of

deforestation, like slash-and-burn, this could possibly preserve the land. A short definition of this

technique is that it entails cutting down a patch of trees, burning them and growing crops on the

land (Bradford). Relating to clear-cutting, slash-and-burn technique does not ruin the soil,

allowing crops to grow on the land again. Clear-cutting prevents new trees and crops from being

planted due to its negative effects on soil. Damaging the soil to quickly deforest is very different

from burning trees that are already cut. Upon researching, one effect of deforestation that should

have been one of Pinchots claims is climate change. Forests help keep the environment safe in

many ways; they aid the environment by fighting against global warming[to] remove carbon

dioxide from the atmosphere and store it (Cho). Excess carbon dioxide means the earth is

trapping more heat. Deforestation causes not only the release of carbon dioxide, but also the

removal of trees that store and eradicate carbon dioxide in the environment. This clearly

elucidates how the effects of deforestation are more serious than what the people know and

believe in.

Pinchots essay downgrades the true meaning and effects of deforestation. It is

understandable why Pinchots writing was vague, not elaborating too much on the negative

consequences in the environment, because he believes in utilizing natures resources. He did not

advocate for the preservation of nature; without a doubt, his purpose was not to halt the

consumption of natural resources. The found evidence not only shows how deforestation causes
 Sandico 7

the destruction of forests, it also explains the harmful and undesirable consequences on Mother

Nature, including climate change. Global warming has been steadily increasing, becoming a

noticeable issue. Even though people can feel the result of global warming, they do not

immediately associate climate change with deforestation. The connection of climate change to

deforestation is not easily perceptible; people need to have a clear understanding of the

underlying factors of deforestation to recognize their correlation. Deforestations big impact on

carbon dioxide is the important fact that proves eliminating trees is a link to global warming.

Although it may be difficult to understand how one effects the other, being able to realize that

deforestation is a problem is a huge first step towards change.

Pinchot was right about deforestation becoming a significant issue; overconsumption of

natural resources triggered the severity of this problem. Even if he vaguely explained the

detrimental effects of deforestation, he still warned people that natural resources are

inexhaustible. Other steps need to be done so that we can save resources for the upcoming

generations. We must stop using destructive techniques of deforestation like clear cutting.

Overall, we must reduce deforestation to save our planet and its natural resources. New

technology and innovation made deforestation easier, yet it damages soil faster and destroys the

earth more quickly.

 Sandico 8

Works Cited

Tropical Deforestation : Feature Articles. NASA, NASA,

earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Deforestation/deforestation_update3.php.

Bradford, Alina. Deforestation: Facts, Causes & Effects. LiveScience, Purch, 4 Mar. 2015,

www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html.

Cho, Renee. Making Progress on Deforestation. State of the Planet, 23 June 2014,

www.blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2014/06/23/making-progress-on-deforestation.

Longobardi, P., Montenegro, A., Beltrami, H., & Eby, M. (2016). Deforestation induced climate

change: Effects of spatial scale. ProQuest, PLoS One, 11(4)

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0153357

Pinchot, Giford. Prosperity. American Earth, Ed. Bill Mckibben, The Library of America,

2008, pp.173-180.