Forest Health

What is a Healthy Forest?

A healthy forest is one that is a fully functioning community of plants and animals and their physical environment. Such is more than "tree health" or even of "stand health". In this concept, fire, insects, and disease—at appropriate levels—are components of a healthy forest.

These appropriate levels are defined by the objectives of management and by the economics of management actions. Active forest management for overall forest health must include answers to the questions--healthy enough for what and management for what result?

Answers to these questions define the purpose of management.

The context of ecosystem management embodies principles and practices employed to reach the goals of healthy and sustainable ecosystems. This includes comparing current patterns and rates of change to historical conditions to gain an understanding of sustainability and forest health while recognizing that ecosystems are more dynamic, complex, and unpredictable than thought in the not so distant past. This unpredictability is now recognized to include interactions of ecological, economic, political, legal, climatological, social, and cultural elements.

Ecosystems occur at multiple scales crossing a variety of human boundaries. Ecosystem management recognizes people as a dominant part of ecosystems and considers human influences, as well as evolving human values and desires. Ecosystem management is more about people than anything else.

We must protect our ecosystems. Active forest management aimed at protecting and restoring ecosystems can aid in ensuring the health, diversity, and sustainability of ecosystems while meeting people's needs for goods and services.

This approach includes understanding the roles of silvicultural practices, fire, insects and disease, and drought cycles in shaping ecosystems and bringing such knowledge to bear in management.

Our efforts at restoring ecosystems enhance the likelihood that diversity, long-term sustainability, and future options are maintained.

Reduction of fuel loadings that are well outside of historic bounds are targeted to the highest priority areas and achieved through mechanical means and appropriate use of prescribed fire. And, sometimes, such effort simply means leaving things alone—for economic, ecological, political, or social reasons.

The key is in making decisions about whether to act and then to chart where and what actions to take.