Clueless twit.....
It's not that we are finding more new sites as much as old sites are being reclassified as toxic under newer protocols (more regulation in the form of more loosely defined, more inclusive parameters).
There are tons of regulations concerning the lumber industry and I don't know where your map showing loss of old growth comes from but it doesn't show grow since the mid 1800s. Heck the National Park Service actually removed 100 acres of trees on the Gettysburg battlefield to make it look as it did at the time of the battle. You think trees live forever?
I couldn't say how many sites are newer that have become toxic. But with decades of talk of deregulation and republican presidents, I wouldn't doubt that there are. And right now coal companies are blasting and plowing off mountain tops to get at coal instead of hiring miners. And what miners leave behind is far less toxic to the environment. And fracking pollutes ground water and causes earthquakes. That isn't very environmentally friendly either.
As to the forests, some have grown back. In parts of Michigan, it looks like they planted pine trees like they plant fields. Which has killed the natural biodiversity of the forests. And in one area that I know of called the Huron National Forest, the ground is poor. So the trees that they planted aren't growing back very well. Also, like it or not, old growth forests have a useful purpose. But for too many people, they see trees and dollar sings flash up in their excited faces just like they show in some old cartoons. ALL cutting down of trees in old growth forests should stop! Even that bullshit supposedly environmentally friendly selective cutting. What old growth forests that are left should never hear a chainsaw. Fuck the loss of jobs. REGULATION!!!!
