Assessment 1:Applicationand Integration

In 1887, M.G. Kern, an agent for the U.S. Forestry Division wrote the following statement:

“Considering the stupendous amounts of timber already withdrawn from native forests, the annual demands of railways now in operation, and the increase in mileage from year to year, it becomes necessary to take a more accurate survey of the fields of demand and supply, unbiased by the popular delusion of the inexhaustible forest wealth of America. The necessity is no longer to be ignored or lightly treated as in the past.”

Assignment:

1. What is the main idea of M.G. Kern’s statement?

2. List and explain five ways that railroads came to rely upon American forests during the nineteenth century.

3. Name two suggestions made to combat the problem of forest depletion during the nineteenth century.

4. Provide two examples of how technology helped ease the strain placed on the environment by American industrialization during the latter-half of the nineteenth century.

5. How did the economic principles of supply and demand affect the role wood played in the American Industrial Revolution?

Using the answers to the above questions, draft aone-page press release defending the position taken by M.G. Kern. Make sure to include facts and specific evidence to strengthen your case.