Clearcutting & Wilderness
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The epic opposition to U.S. Forest Service support of clearcutting and insistence on settling aside areas as wilderness defined the core of Ned’s work and authorship, and became a full-time avocation.
Ned masterfully uses national legislation to achieve goals, helping to influence environmentalists’ move from protest to policy, but not without conflicts over his approach. It was a huge learning curve for Ned, contrasting the idealism of good bills with the reality of amendments and skewed interpretations by federal officials. For every two steps forward, there was at least one step back.
The fight for the Big Thicket was complicated, spearheaded by Ned but ultimately carried on by others. Finding the congressman whose district the land was in to be too aligned with timber companies to support the effort, Ned turned to politicians outside the district—a controversial move. A series of bills were offered, rescinded, and re-offered, with varying acreages and levels of protection. A legislative slugfest. Conflicts arose within coalitions and characters with unclear motives held sway. Activist-naturalists almost gave up—a fate Ned would not allow. The densely forested and incredibly diverse Big Thicket National Preserve now protects 113,114 acres of land and water spread over seven counties in southeast Texas, with strong nonprofits advocating for careful land practices and a land trust that aims to connect the separated parcels with the goal of protecting the entire Big Thicket biological region.
“Over forty years ago Ned founded the Texas Committee on Natural Resources (now Texas Conservation Alliance). One of the goals was establishment of a Big Thicket National Park. Ned logged more time in Big Thicket forests and in Washington offices than anyone, and he taught us not only about our biodiversity heritage but also about politics. After Big Thicket, he tackled wilderness areas in national forests with wide conservation support, resulting in preservation of 68,000 acres of wilderness areas.
~ Maxine Johnston
Fighting widespread collusion between pine timber plantation companies and the US Forest Service (USFS), Ned and a growing number of colleagues stressed that clearcutting and monocultures violated the USFS charter of multi-use. Bad timber practices on federal lands harmed the enjoyment of uses such as camping, hiking and mountain biking. Silt-laden runoff from barren clearcutting sites damaged creek and river ecology, to the detriment of those engaged in boating, fishing, or swimming. The dramatic story of the fight to save the Four Notch area of Sam Houston National Forest is detailed in Sterile Forest: The Case Against Clearcutting, which followed the lawsuit in great detail while bringing alive the characters of the forest defenders community.
The controversial fight to preserve East Texas forests and the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker against USFS insistence on clearcutting to deal with southern pine beetle infestations. Some areas have barely recovered from USFS tactics. To prepare for the lawsuits to stop USFS practices, Ned inspected clearcuts in 78 national forests and corresponded with hundreds of scientists and foresters. The result was Clearcutting: A Crime Against Nature, ably edited by Genie.
The East Texas Wilderness Act led to wilderness areas—less than he wanted but more than expected— preserved through Ned’s efforts: Big Slough Wilderness Area, Indian Mounds Wilderness Area, Little Creek WIlderness Area, Turkey Hill Wilderness Area, and Upland Island Wilderness Area. His capturing of the great beauty of these places, combined with his deep knowledge of them, in Realms of Beauty: The Wilderness Areas of East Texas
Ned’s epic Texas Wilderness Pow Wows, later called Forest Reform Rallies, knit community and energized forest activists at different national forests each year. Camping-based gatherings, there were talks and presentations, plus hikes into wild areas, some of which turned into crazy adventures. Great meal-time camaraderie and campfire song-circles deep into the night.
Taking his message and Forest Reform Rallies nationwide with the Forest Reform Network, Ned organizes dozens of smaller groups into a fierce national force. Unable to implement deep change to USFS policies at the source, activists learn to challenge USFS misuse of land on a forest by forest basis.
