With over half of our original forest covered lands already lost and our population expanding at a rapid rate, managing our remaining forested lands must take on a very different management philosophy! Our remaining forests will have to increase their efficiency to provide the vital elements required for life which means, we will have to focus on the health and diversity of our remaining forest cover. The new focus will require a concerted effort to understand the detail and complexity of the natural world. The definition of sustainability will change to the maintenance and enhancement of the vital elements provided by our forest communities, that sustain life on our planet. Following this concept of management, will require implementing management prescriptions that copy "nature's way" of re-establishing our valuable forest communities. This is far different from the concept of "preservation". It is actually a more intensive forest management concept then we currently teach in our modern schools of forestry. It means managers need to be ecologists, not biologists, hydrologists, foresters, range conservationists, etc. It means being able to recognize the individual communities that make up the forests and maintaining their integrity so as to improve diversity. It will require moving away from plantations and using indigenous seed sources to enhance diversity; pushing "clearcutting" aside and selecting community prescriptions that enhances diversity and protects the multitude of relationships that exist within each community. Above all, it requires that community relationships take priority over the production of wood fiber per acre. It requires our forest land managers to have detailed knowledge of the lands they are responsible for, which comes with actually visiting the communities.
This process does not ignore the value of the forest products from the forests but, they become the by-products of proper management.
Yes, forests are required for life on our planet but, current management principles will result in destroying the remaining forests, just as we are draining our planet of fossil fuels. We do have a problem, and change is essential if we want to provide for future generations! We can not survive without forests and current management is shrinking the acres of lands covered with trees and destroying the bio-diversity of the forested acres that remain! Are we going to continue on our path of materialism or step forward and work together to achieve a more desirable future? I assure you we have the power to make a difference and the solutions will not be found in the political process!
This process does not ignore the value of the forest products from the forests but, they become the by-products of proper management.
Yes, forests are required for life on our planet but, current management principles will result in destroying the remaining forests, just as we are draining our planet of fossil fuels. We do have a problem, and change is essential if we want to provide for future generations! We can not survive without forests and current management is shrinking the acres of lands covered with trees and destroying the bio-diversity of the forested acres that remain! Are we going to continue on our path of materialism or step forward and work together to achieve a more desirable future? I assure you we have the power to make a difference and the solutions will not be found in the political process!
