wrote:

On Jul 7, 4:33 pm, jeff miller wrote:

i'm afraid there are simply "too many rats
in the cage". farm land and forests have been disappearing at alarming
rates for a long time now.


Agree with the sentiment, just curious if you actually have any data
for the "farm land and forests" disappearing. At least in the United
States I'd be surprised if there was a significant loss of farm land.
I vaguely remember increased North American forests being listed as
a reason for increased global warming.

Just curious if you have any data for your statement.
- Ken


sorry about the dakotas comment...got my vang-mu all warped...

here's another one...from society of american foresters...

"However, for the past 40 years the acreage of forest land in several
states has continued to decline, with forest lands near many urban
population centers, as well as recreational and retirement communities,
now being permanently converted to residential, commercial, and other
non-forest land uses. Nationwide forest inventory data now show that a
trend decrease in the nation's aggregate forest land area has occurred
since the 1960s. From a peak of 762 million acres in 1963, total US
forest land decreased by 13 million acres by 2002. While the area of
forest land in most states remained stable during that period, or in
some cases increased, several of the Southern states, as well as the
Pacific coast states, experienced a substantial reduction in forest land
area (Smith et al. 2004).

In the Southeastern United States, the states of Florida, Georgia, and
North Carolina, which experienced rapid population growth and urban
expansion, together incurred a net loss of approximately six million
acres of forest land between 1963 and 2002. Arkansas, Louisiana,
Oklahoma, and Texas have experienced an aggregate net loss of forest
land of approximately 12 million acres since 1963, a result of both
urban expansion and conversion of some forests to agricultural land. On
the Pacific coast, the reduction in forest land acreage in California,
Oregon, and Washington since the 1960s represents almost five million
acres (Smith et al. 2004). Data from the two most recent nationwide
forest inventory periods, 1997 and 2002, suggest that while forest land
acreage in most states remained stable, or in some cases increased, the
aggregate acreage of forestland nationwide has peaked and a trend
reduction in forest land area is now occurring in many states. One
recent study projects that the area of forestland in the United States
will decrease by 23 million acres by the year 2050 from the1997 level
(Alig et al. 2003)."