Switch to Desktop Site  Thinking local and sustainable makes
economic sense, says Tom Wessels  (Read article summary)
Cathryn J. Prince  (Read caption) Market forces can conserve
forests and farmlands, says forest-management expert Tom
Wessels. Consumers want to buy wood from well-managed forests,
he says.  About these ads  If Dr. Seuss's Lorax speaks for the
trees, Tom Wessels speaks for Earth’s entire intricate
ecosystems: After all, without forests and farms there wouldn’t
be any food.  As head of the conservation biology department at
Antioch University New England in Keene, N.H., Mr. Wessels isn’t
against chopping down trees or clearing land to farm. He just
wants to see more people embrace sustainable forest and land
management practices.  Wessels, trained as a research ecologist,
says economics plays as much a role in protecting the
environment as does saving energy. Think how the adoption of
fair trade principles for growing and selling coffee have
changed the economics of that industry. Forests can