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Caring for the land and serving people
United States Department of Agriculture
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An ecological aesthetic for forest landscape management
Author(s): Paul H. Gobster
Date: 1999
Source: Landscape Journal. 18(1): 54-64. (1999)
Publication Series: Scientific Journal (JRNL)
Station: North Central Research Station
PDF: Download Publication (1001.3 KB)Description
Although aesthetics and ecological sustainability are two highly regared values of forest landscapes, practices developed to manage forests for these values can sometimes conflict with one another. In this paper I argue that such conflicts are rooted in our conception of forest aesthetics as scenery, and propose that a normative, "ecological aesthetic" based on the writings of Aldo Leopold and others could help resove conflicts between aesthetic and sustainability values. I then offer suggestions on how we might advance an ecological aesthetic in policy and planning programs, on-the-ground management, and research and theory developement in landscape aesthetics.Publication Notes
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Citation
Gobster, Paul H. 1999. An ecological aesthetic for forest landscape management. Landscape Journal. 18(1): 54-64. (1999)Keywords
forest, landscape, aesthetics, ecological management, biodiversityRelated Search
- Forests and landscapes: linking ecology, sustainability and aesthetics
- Putting multiple use and sustained yield into a landscape context
- Developing new silvicultural regimes: the eyes have it.
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https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/12265