[Talk-us] Tagging National Forests

[Jeffrey Ollie]

On Tue, May 10, 2016 at 12:28 PM, OSM Volunteer stevea <
steveaOSM at softworkers.com> wrote:

>
> As an aside, I STILL believe that it is/would be correct WITHIN this
> boundary to ALSO tag landuse=forest where it is KNOWN (ground truth is
> best, but public data, signage or other sources could convince me) that
> harvesting of wood is allowed in those specific areas where there is
> exactly this sort of tree cover.  Although, I might evolve further still to
> be convinced to use a landcover tag (instead) if/as this becomes better
> developed.  The landcover tag becoming more clearly rendered would likely
> help here.
>

I think that the landuse=forest tag as you describe it here is close to
useless for the purposes of OSM. First of all, the areas that the US Forest
Service (or similar state agency) allows timber to be harvested from is
going to change, probably at least on a yearly basis, as the agencies
manage the lands under their control. Second of all, the information on
where timber harvesting is currently allowed may not be public information
since it's part of a commercial contract with a private business (I could
be wrong through). Third, that sort of information is probably of little
use to the general public anyway since only those companies with the
necessary permits would be allowed to harvest timber anyway.  And no,
gathering up dead wood from the forest floor for a campfire does not count
in my book as timber harvesting.

If you were planning a hike through a National Forest and wanted to avoid
areas that were actively being harvested, you'd be much better off
contacting the US Forest Service directly anyway as they'd be able to
inform you about other issues with your hiking plans like recent landslides
that made trails impassable, wildfires, etc.

-- 
Jeff Ollie
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