SnapSTAT - Checkerboard ForestsFriday 1 Nov 2024  As an alternative to the courtroom, environmentalists and the logging industry are hashing out their differences over the world’s largest game of checkers. While that would be far more interesting than legal proceedings, this strange pattern is actually the work of 19th century forest policies that granted railroad companies every other square mile of land. Over time some of these were sold off for timber harvesting, leaving behind this residual tapestry.
In the Pacific Northwest, the checkerboard approach appears to be the rule, not the exception. It's a strategy also used for somewhat more sustainable forest management, with some squares cleared while others grow. Explore on Google Maps and you'll see just how much of the landscape is patterned.
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