Clearing the United States forests: pivotal years 1810–1860

Abstract

The presence of forests and efforts to clear and utilize them have been constant motifs in the landscape, livelihood and life of the United States since first European settlement. Taking a long view of forest destruction and use, the years from about 1810 to 1860 were crucial and pivotal in the development of new trends, patterns and perceptions. During that half century the United States was transformed from a predominantly self-sufficient rural economy and society to a more commercial, industrialized, urban one. The major impacts on forests were agricultural clearing, clearing for domestic fuel, industry and mechanical energy, and cutting for constructional lumber. The ubiquity and abundance of wood retarded the adoption of new technology in industry and transport. But as felling increased towards the end of the 1860s the aesthetic, recreational and environmental qualities of forests came to be more deeply appreciated and concern was expressed about the depletion of the resource.