In response to the Monitor’s article on forestry, I want to share why I believe ecological forestry is our best tool for ensuring healthy, resilient forests in the future.
I’ve had the opportunity to walk in the forest with ecologists, recreationists, conservationists, foresters, casual observers and more. The commonality among them all is that they love the forest!
My recent time in the trees — ranging from Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom to the heart of the Maine’s North Woods — illustrated the resilience of the forest and also an onslaught of threats that are devastating to contemplate. The multiple impacts of climate change — extreme weather, invasive pests and pathogens, changing seasonal patterns — are increasingly evident on the landscape and are impacting biodiversity and forest health.
As I sit with this unpleasant reality, I’m also encouraged that we have the tools we need to address these threats, if we are open to conversation and trying new (and some old) approaches to forest management.
Enter ecological forestry — some just say forestry, others use various aspirational modifiers — an approach that builds on the best forest science while overlaying a new emphasis on resilience and complexity to encourage the diversity of age class and type of native trees and plants.
The profession of forestry emerged in the late 1800s and grew alongside the region’s forests, many of which were recovering from heavy deforestation. The new profession established the idea of sustained-yield, a principle of harvesting no more than the forests could naturally replenish, which allowed for a steady, sustainable stream of wood.
This idea dominated forest management for decades but gradually evolved by the late 20th century to incorporate multiple-use goals beyond timber production. Landowners and foresters added habitat improvements, water quality protection and recreational opportunities as important goals in their forest management plans.
As our understanding of forest ecosystems has deepened — and the pressures and demands on them have increased — foresters have recognized the need to go further. Today, foresters incorporate carbon uptake and storage, climate resilience, a greater focus on biodiversity and other critical concerns in forest management.
Ecological forestry prioritizes forest health and integrity. It embraces strategies that mimic the naturally occurring disturbances with which our forests have evolved and supports forests to withstand disturbances such as storms, pests and climate shifts.
Rather than focusing primarily on timber, ecological forestry sees the entire puzzle — large living and dead trees, a mix of species, fallen logs nurturing vigorous new growth and diverse habitat. Over the long-term, ecological forestry works to maintain all these elements across the landscape to achieve integrated environmental, economic and social outcomes. And yet it also allows for harvesting forest products — which people need for everything from building homes to paper products and which landowners depend on for revenue to support keeping forests as forests.
The climate crisis is real, and we need everyone to play a part. It is heartening that so many people love the forest, but disagreement about whether and how to manage forests is just under the surface. Resolving those disagreements is complicated by the fact that while much communication today defaults to soundbites and memes, forests are complex systems that deserve complex thinking and robust responses like ecological forestry.
Now more than ever, forest management strategies must evolve to reflect the pressing realities of climate change, the need to replace carbon-intensive products with renewable forest products and the inherent complexities and dynamics of forest ecosystems. By coming together first to love the forest — second to embrace ecological forestry — we can ask better questions, respect the forest’s complexity and seek new solutions for supporting healthy and resilient forests.
You can help by rejecting over-simplified arguments against managing forests and using forest products. Get out and enjoy the forest you love and choose locally produced wood products whenever you can. In northern New England, we’re blessed with an abundant renewable resource, and ecological forestry is our best tool for ensuring healthy, resilient forests in the future.
Rob Riley is the president of the Northern Forest Center, a regional organization fostering vibrant rural communities sustained by innovation and environmental stewardship. He lives in Canterbury.