RE: Some Good news In PA
doug is right on on both accounts...
red maples are taking over our forests and theres alot of causes....its really not "natural" though...
many ecosystems need burned to be healthy as wild as that may sound...what they are doing is controlling natural succession, but i dont see it as a bad thing. without it, that ecosystem which is important to the area will be lost without it.
like they are finding out west, natural fires are a good thing. they are learning that they need to let natural fires burn as long as nobody or property is in danger to reduce fuel loads which will prevent HOT major disastrous fires, and to keep the ecosystems healthy...
alot of grass and such need burned to be healthy and stay a grassland...
if its not burned, natural succession takes place and eventually everything is a mature forest until something changes the mature forest...
yes, they are essentially controlling nature...but humans are the reason that nature cant run its course naturally. we log forests, develop land, exploit resources, etc etc all changing the natural ecosystems and disrupting natural succession....controlling certain ecosystems is important to keep the species of the ecosystem healthy...