For it seems the nature of living legacies left behind after disturbance plays a far more important role than previously understood. This finding also has important implications for timber management strategies as they relate to other values: what we leave behind may be more important than what we take.

Researchers have further established that the geologic underpinnings of an area dictate many of its ecological responses, an physical processes have their own kind of succession, not unlike those of the ecological realm. The findings from Mount St. Helens, a global beacon of learning, have affected subsequent management of Pacific Northwest forests, and contributed to strip mining recovery projects in Wyoming.