Policies and Programs 
Although scientists cannot yet fully explain how 
forest destruction is occurring, air pollutants and 
acid rain are apparently stressing sensitive forests. 
When weakened by the stress of air pollutants, 
acidic and impoverished soils, or toxic metals, the 
resistance of trees to natural events such as 
drought, insects, or frost is reduced. In some cases, 
pollution alone appears to cause injury or growth 
declines. 
Although the mechanisms are complex and 
may take decades of additional research to become 
fully understood, assuring the future productivity of 
the fourth forest requires one of two things: 
1. Concrete and scientifically defensible data from 
the polluting industries to prove unequivocally that 
pollutants are not harming the fourth forest ecosys- 
tem, or 
2. Action to reduce pollutants, which should in- 
clude legislation from the U.S. Congress to reduce 
sulfur and nitrogen oxides emissions by roughly 50 
percent with in the next 10 to 12 years, a commit- 
ment from State and Federal agencies to reduce 
emissions of sulfur dioxide to the maximum extent 
possible under State implementation plans and oth- 
er current regulations, and a commitment from all 
parties to comply with current standards set for 
ozone and other air pollutants under the Clean Air 
Act. The Tennessee Valley Authority reduced emis- 
sions by 50 percent at cost increase of only 7 to 8 
percent to rate payers. 
Natural events cannot explain the unprecedent- 
ed devastation of European forests or the dramatic 
reductions in annual growth rates now being dis- 
covered in North American forests. Air pollutants, 
particularly acid rain and ozone, lead the list of sus- 
pected causes. Without a change in the current 
pattern of increasing air pollution in the Southeast, 
the future of the fourth forest will be clouded by 
uncertainty and doubt. Hopefully, the future of the 
forest will not include the frightening forest dieback 
that is now a reality in other parts of the world. 
Reducing the stress of anthropogenic pollutants on 
the forest ecosystem in this region is one positive 
action that would almost certainly help prevent that 
possibility. It will take at least 5 to 10 years to attain 
reductions in sulfur dioxides once a legislative deci- 
sion is made. Further delays in making that decision 
may pose substantial risks to the fourth forest's 
ecosystem. Stewardship and the long-term viability 
of the forest requires our support. 
We have a legislative opportunity now that may 
not exist in the near future. Southeastern support for 
the effort to reduce the pollutants that cause acid 
rain and ozone are pivotal to the success or failure 
of this effort. In addition to the likely benefits of 
50-percent reductions in acid deposition in the for- 
est ecosystem in the South's fourth forest, a growing 
body of data indicates that such a reduction in pol- 
lutant loading over eastern North America would 
also alleviate the growing threat that these pollu- 
tants pose in other areas, such as fisheries, water- 
fowl reproductive performance, and human health. 
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