Imo, people get too bogged down in old growth stuff, sure big redwoods are impressive and not to be lost.
There are many ancient woodlands in the UK and France, but we're not just talking about big trees, coppiced chestnut woods been there for hundreds/thousands of years. Fungi that depend on the stumps.
Regularly harvested woods can support more wildlife than a climax woodland. Wild flowers and the insects that thrive on them move from clearing to clearing gradually vacating as the shade increases.
Wild life's not all about trees you know.
My thoughts as well pard.
what do you mean bogged down in old growth? I don't see much of it around to get bogged down in. Michigan being so flat it was pretty accessible. I think old trees deserve a bit of respect if they have made it this far. Cruise around the globe on Google earth, you can tell old growth from regenerated quite clearly. Hardly much left worldwide to get bogged down in
Kevin, searching for old growth on google earth is definitely no substitute for hiking the terrain and seeing it with your own eyes. Maybe take some trips, try the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, plan to spend some time trying to hike around and see every old growth patch out there...and I think you might change your thinking. Also, remember, a tree doesn't have to bee huge, to make it an old growth.
The difference being that in the last 200 years, the forests have been attacked with no regard for the future.
Every forest, my pards and I "attacked" had a timber harvest plan (thp), that we had to adhere to. Typical thp's may include, some or all of the folowing guidelines: selective harvest, replanting, brush management, soil restoration (if needed), watershed protection, and wildlife protection. Most of my career, I worked for helicopter logging companies, which is very environmentally friendly (although very expensive). How is this not regarding the future? I admit that the early days of logging around here were not very sustainable, but those days are long gone, and it gets old when people still try to beat modern day loggers with that stick...at least everywhere I ever fell timber (Montana, Idaho, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, California, Colorado, Wyoming, Florida and Alabama).