A Political Ecology of Forest Exploitation in the Lower Peninsula

Historical literature written about logging activity in Lower Michigan and the Great Lakes region between 1800-1950 is analyzed within two political ecology frameworks, Yapa’s ‘nexus of relations’ and Blaikie’s ‘chain of explanation.’ The dominant character of each of the factors composing the nexus of relations; social, cultural, economic, academic, ecological, technical, and political, during the period from 1800-1950, were identified and placed within the chains of explanation. Four distinct time periods were delineated based on the character of each of these factors encompassing settlement of the region; the establishment and beginning of the logging era; the intense exploitation of the forests; and the downfall of the logging industry. By interpreting the changes in each factor over time, linkages were drawn between the factors and landscape degradation that occurred as a result of logging activity. Through this research we found that intense modification of the Great Lakes forests from logging was caused by many interconnected factors that reflected not only economic situations during the different time periods, but also other dimensions such as human perceptions of the forests. All factors in the nexus played important roles in process of deforestation.