GEOL 1341 Environmental Issues: Parks & Forests

Subject: GEOL
Catalog Number: 1341
Number of Credits: 3

This course is one in a series that focuses on environmental issues in southwestern Pennsylvania. Forests are made up of trees. "Timber" is what they yell when the trees are cut and fall. With maturing forests scraping the sky in Pennsylvania and other parts of the northeastern United States, and controversial restrictions on national forest timbering in the Pacific Northwest, there is tremendous pressure to cut the local hardwood forests. But unlike the turn of the century when all of Penn's Woods was clear-cut, there is a growing ethic that believes trees are more valuable growing than cut - for recreation and environmental reasons. This course on forest and parks issues is the fourth in a series that focuses on environmental and public policy issues in south western Pennsylvania. Through newspaper articles, field trips and guest speakers, the course will explore the issues and conflicts that abound in our wildlands and urban woods. Emphasis is on a balanced presentation of the issues, discussions of various approaches to solving problems and development of writing skills through a number of short assignments based on readings and presentations of guest speakers. Offered in spring of odd-numbered years. Lecture 3 hours.

Course prerequisites

None