Abstract
Managing vegetation with silviculture on national forests in the 21
st century will be far more complex than at any time in the hundred plus years of the agency’s history. Silviculture will take place in an environment of great uncertainty. A changing climate, unprecedented rates of change to biological communities from invasive species and pests, the likelihood of continued capacity limitations to treat acreage, changes in land use and forest management on surrounding lands, and business models of timber companies will challenge managers and silvicultural practitioners to make tradeoff choices and determine optimization outcomes that will have far reaching and long-lasting effects. Practicing silviculture with humble confidence will become even more imperative. Four attributes essential to facing these practical realities are given to highlight the kinds of dilemmas managers will face and how silviculturists can best contribute to informed decisionmaking.
Parent Publication
Keywords
collaborative,
co-production,
stewardship,
implementation,
relationship building
Citation
Strong, Paul I.V. 2020. Silviculture in a complex management environment: a forest supervisor's perspective. In: Pile, Lauren S.; Deal, Robert L.; Dey, Daniel C.; Gwaze, David; Kabrick, John M.; Palik, Brian J.; Schuler, Thomas M., comps. The 2019 National Silviculture Workshop: a focus on forest management-research partnerships. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-193. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 77-82. https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-GTR-P-193-paper11.
