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The scientific basis for silvicultural and management decisions in the national forest system

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  • The 737 million acres (298 million hectares) of forests in the United States are a rich resource that produces timber, minerals, wildlife, forage for domestic animals, and water. These forests also provide the environment for tourism, outdoor recreation, retirement, and a multitude of other uses. Whether the lands are publicly owned, owned by industry, or owned by small private landowners, the forest resource manager is faced with the challenge of increasing the output of goods and services without adversely affecting the quality of the forest environment. When public resources like the national forests are involved, the manager must consider what people want as well as what is biologically possible, technically feasible, and economicaHy realistic when developing cultural prescriptions. The public and its elected officials in Congress have an abiding interest in the management of our national forests. As evidence of this interest, John R. McGuire, then Chief of the Forest Service, appeared before joint Senate Subcommittees in 1976 to present the agency's Renewable Resource Assessment and Program. A compendium of supporting documents prepared by Forest Service scientists entitled "The Scientific Base for Silviculture and Management Decisions in the National Forests--Selected PapersTM was made available to the committees and became part of the record of the hearings. Management challenges today are even more complex than they were a decade ago. We have learned from past management activities and increased our knowledge of forest culture, protection, and use through research. However, regardless of the objectives of management, trees are involved and forest stands are manipulated utilizing silvicultural principles. Silviculture is the scientific basis upon which all management decisions should be made. The long-term objective of all silvicultural prescriptions is a healthy working forest that provides for society's needs. This often means that not all uses and interests can always be accommodated at the same time nor to the extent that all individuals might like. Usually some compromises have to be made, but the decisions are not biologically irreversible and a continuous flow of goods and services is provided to the American public. This document updates and expands upon the information provided to Congress in the 1976 compendium of papers. It is a basic primer on the scientific basis for silviculture that should help those interested in the management and uses of the forest to understand the considerations and evaluation processes our professionals go through in developing prescriptions to manage our national forests.
  • Gerald W. Williams Collection
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