[B4Ranch]

Roads bring in more people who may ignite fires, and clearcutting and road building channel away water once held in place by the living forest floor, causing a drop in the water table.

We have more forestland today than we did 100 years ago.

[ctdonath2]

We have more forestland today than we did 100 years ago.

Anyone consider that maybe that's because we've dumped more carbon into the atmosphere, thus providing more material for making more trees? Maybe there just wasn't enough atmospheric carbon in the past to support forests of current size, and now that there is more CO2 available the consequence is we get more trees! Golly gee, maybe nature adapts...whodathunkit...