I see an economic diasater coming...

[triffid]

http://www.research.vt.edu/resmag/2002summer/forest.html  More to a forest than trees.

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs), as a market sector, is growing rapidly — nearly 20 percent per year in recent years.

[triffid]

Non-timber forest products are any plant-based material of commercial value, other than trees, harvested from forests. Such products have specialty or niche markets, and many are valuable commodities with the potential to generate significant economic activity at the community level. But to realize their value, the ecosystems in which these plants thrive must also be valued.

The Appalachian region is rich in biodiversity, offering great potential to support a flourishing non-timber forest product industry. Most of the 130 plants indigenous to the United States that are used as medicinal or dietary supplements are found in the southern Appalachian Mountains.

Medicinal plants, such as St. Johns wort or ginseng, have the highest profile. Traditionally, they formed the basis for medical care in rural southern Appalachia. With the advent of inexpensive synthetic and manufactured medicines, natural healing became less common, but knowledge of plant properties is still passed down and many people continue to gather herbs for their own use.

[triffid]

Natural medicinal and herbal products involve the use of leaves, stems, roots, bark, seeds, fruit, flowers, and buds to make teas, tonics, powder, snuff, poultices, salves, tinctures, lotions, and smoke inhalers. Plants provide treatments for pain and such diseases as cancer, leukemia, and heart disease. More than 40 percent of prescription drugs — translating into $25 billion in sales for 1997 — contain at least one natural element. Moreover, the demand for natural health supplements is skyrocketing. "The soaring demand is creating an environmental tension as growing consumer interest jeopardizes these products' sustainablity in the wild," Hammett says.

In 1998, a coalition of scientists, conservation organizations, botanical gardens, and museums released the results of a 20-year global assessment of plants at risk, which established a conservative estimate that 29 percent of America's 16,000 plant species are at risk of extinction due to overharvesting and loss of habitat to development.

In addition to the medicinal and dietary supplements, the other popular non-timber forest products include edible forest products, such as mushrooms, herbs, and spices. The decorative or floral sector encompasses pine boughs, grapevines, ferns, flowers, Spanish moss, and other plant products used for floral arrangements, dried flower decorations, and ornaments. Specialty wood products include baskets, carvings, turnings, utensils, containers, furniture, and musical instruments.

[the_big_m_in_ok]

I PM's an e-mail to triffid, and I've decided to share it with you Members and viewing Internet public as well...

triffid,
       I've seen, here in S.F., something that causes me REAL concern...
Homeless bums that live on the streets are buying wilderness survivor-type tents and pitching them in GROUPS of 2 to 10 individuals under freeway overpass bridges.   Never saw that before.
       Also, so many bums sleep on the hard concrete floors in Local subways, that the Local cops don't bother to harass them like they did in the past.  There's simply too many of them to arrest and prosecute in  Municipal Court.
       To put it simply, there's like an army of these people and they'll probably never work again.   That's one more reason I started the, "I see an Economic Disaster Coming... thread.

What do you think?

--Lee

[triffid]

I agree . Triffid