Why do Altmer keep conquering Valenwood? Why did the Empire for that matter? Isn't such a place more of a drain on resources than a benefit? The province itself is practically untouched jungle (with no roads or cities to speak of) and the natives are primitive. There doesn't seem to be many resources there besides trees which the Bosmer wouldn't let anyone cut down anyway. The Wood Elves themselves don't seem like they'd be much addition to any army despite their skill as archers since they tend to desert and aren't very disciplined. In fact it seems like when the Empire held Valenwood, they didn't do much with it...not even defending it. I suppose for the Altmer the province would be a toe into the mainland so maybe that is why they keep taking it over. And the only reason I can see the Empire wanting it, is just so they could claim controlling the whole of Tamriel.

What do you think?

Why do the civilized nations of the world cut down the rainforest?

Natural resources.

Official Reason: Elven Unity

Unofficial Reason: Cannon Fodder

I highly doubt that the Altmer are cutting down the forests of Valenwood (they didn't during the first Aldmeri Dominion) and I know the Empire didn't.

Pacification

A nation that supports you is a nation you do not have to defeat by force. Even if one day you plan to wipe them out, in the short term you can focus your resources elsewhere instead of having to worry about additional fronts

More like how? Ever heard about the Trees in Valenwood? Not even the Oblivion Bruma siege engine could cut one down. Plus they move around. Must be the Imga spies.

Simple. A coup by the pro-Thalmor faction in Valenwood.

More like those [censored] Imgas. Never trusted those bastards.

There are cities and roads in Valenwood and its another province now in possesion of the aldmeri dominion.
why would they want it?
easy answer: The High Elves seek to claim all of Tamriel. Pretty much mirrior the former Ayleid Empire.
hard answer: Valenwood is the dominion's steak on the mainland of Tamriel to keep an eye on the Empire and Argonians.

very well said

Valenwood doesn't have traditional cities though and very few traditional roads (that the Altmer have to take care of themselves because the Bosmer don't use them).

There's a real world parallel for that. What did Germany do in WW2 before they began invading everyone? They annexed Austria and the Sudetenland, two regions that were pro-Germany. Doing so not only gained them territory and resources, but it also bolstered their armies.

Not sure what this has to do with Skyrim.

All I know about Valenwood is that I think I'd like to see Elder Scrolls VI take place there.

Much easier to defeat the Empire if you whittle it down a bit first.

This man, children, is a good example of someone gifted in political science.

Anyways, yes, that's the main point, summed up rather well, may I add.

For the Dominion, it was a way to gain a foothold on the continent. Hell of a lot easier to bring the fight to an enemy if you are already on their land.

For the (former) Empire, it is simply a sort of insurance policy. Conquer them or ally with them to know that you can have ambassadors there, trade with the natives, etc. is very valuable. Also, I believe the fact that Bosmer are the most skilled archers in Tamriel would make a fine addition to anyone's military, in addition to the resources the province provides. The Bosmer don't protect every tree like the Na'vi on Pandora...

slaves

The Thalmor plan is to dissolve Mundus back into Oblivion while erasing Lorkhan from existence. This will, they think, reset history to a point before Mundus was ever created (since Lorkhan did not exist, he could have never created it) thus restoring them to their unified divine forms.

To dissolve Mundus, they need to deactivate or destroy the eight Towers of the World. Valenwood was home to one of those towers, a giant walking tree. It has, along with six other towers, been deactivated. Only one tower remains, the Throat of the World in Skyrim.

Well apart from the fact that it's bordered with the heartland? it's also home to the greatest rangers in Tamriel.

And not to mention it acts as message that the Empire is failing and they can't hang on to the land and that they're stretched too fin.

A way to attack Cyrodiil and Hammerfell. Same goes for Elswyer(sp?). They probally use that nation to attack Black Marsh.

Bosmer offer free garbage disposal on the battlefield

Yea. Considering that the forests in falkreath and riften are quite nice, i would want valenwood to be the place of elder scrolls VI

Then i'd be missing snow and mountains instead of hating rocks like i do now.

LMAO!

Thanks for the answers everyone. ^^

Natural resources.

The same reason that the Dutch conquered Sumatra, the Belgians took the Congo, and the Portuguese Brazil. All of those were primitive jungles but full of valuable resources. Even things like rare spices were of great value back in the day.