[Wisconsin] Wisconsin law states that no “forestry operation” may be declared a nuisance, nor may any town or county pass a zoning ordinance interfering with forestry operations, if carried out by “generally accepted forestry management practices.” But here’s the question: What, exactly, is “generally accepted” and who determines it? What is proposed is that “generally accepted forestry management practices” be defined as “methods recommended or approved by the department for most effective propagation and improvement of the various timber types common in Wisconsin.” For any independent biologist who values native forests and considers the thousands of noncommercial plants and animals that compose them to be every bit as much “the forest” as a few commercial “timber types,” this proposed law sounds like straightforward tree farming.

News notes are courtesy of Southern Forests Network News Notes
www.southernsustainableforests.org