Forestry - Justice Le Tran Alexander

In a particular guest speaker event during class we were able to earn more about the forestry profession from Dr. Redick's own son. One of my questions at the end of the event had to do with wolf populations. Before this I knew that deer populations were disproportionate to where they needed to be, but when faced with the numbers I really was taken aback.

Deer overpopulation directly affects the healthy cycle of a forest. They end up eating all the good saplings and stunt the healthy growth of a forest. Foresters in the midwest try and do what they can to maintain the health of these areas which I find commendable. Prescribed burns, artificial regeneration, and the removal of all types of invasives all help in this process.

I didn't know how deep the forestry industry went in their efforts in protecting wilderness spaces. This also correlated to another speaker event we had during class with Mr. Atkinson, the proprietor of fear2hope. In particular he talked about how the state loss about 22 million due to a fire in the dismal swamp when preventative measure would've only cost around 2 million.

As a person who take interest in issues of environmental study, the question was posed of how could my major essentially bridge the gap between the scientific and the social aspects of the environment. I feel like speakers like these helped broadened the pool of experience I could draw from when assessing problem related to the environment. 

I hope in the future I can make more of these connections in hopes of bringing more people together on the issues of the environment. I know we're going to need it.

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