Fire suppression and the loss of western white pine (WWP) have made northern Rocky Mountain moist mixed-conifer forests less disturbance resilient. Although managers are installing hundreds of plantations, most of these plantations have not experienced wildfire since establishment. In 2015, wildfires burned through one hundred WWP plantations in this region, providing an opportunity to evaluate the

AbstractThe COVID-19 (COVID) pandemic affected nearly every aspect of higher education. It has been particularly disruptive to forest operations courses that rely heavily on field experiences. Dodson and Blinn (2021) surveyed US forest operations instructors at four-year institutions granting SAF-accredited forestry degrees to understand how they rapidly modified courses during spring 2020 to accommodate

AbstractThis paper examines “e-planning,” or the use of computer-based systems to conduct planning and decision-making, in the context of community forest management. E-planning is growing in the field of environmental planning, as it promises greater equity in terms of public participation. However, a lack of scholarly work exists on the applicability for forest planning. During the COVID-19 pandemic

September 2021

National Science Foundation10.13039/1000000011733990

Public land management agencies, such as the US Forest Service (USFS), confront challenges in leveraging limited administrative capacity to effectively manage landscape-scale, cross-boundary disturbances. Using case study methods, we investigated the ~1996–2016 outbreak of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) in the Black Hills, a 1.5 million acre region in South Dakota and Wyoming

Canopy openness is an important forest characteristic related to understory light environment and productivity. Although many methods exist to estimate canopy openness, comparisons of their performance tend to focus on relatively narrow ranges of canopy conditions and forest types. To address this gap, we compared two popular approaches for estimating canopy openness, traditional spherical densiometer

AbstractThe private forestry sector faces enormous challenges from complex environmental issues concurrent with societal concerns about intensive forest management and application of silvicultural tools. At the same time, research and development spending and the scientific workforce in the forestry sector has declined. However, the forestry sector has a long history of strategic deployment of science

There is a growing recognition that students in forestry and other natural resource management programs need an understanding of natural resource policy to become well-versed natural resource professionals. As such, instructors need to find creative ways to draw student interest in course content, which students may view as peripheral to their core professional interests. Experiential learning activities

Advising landowners can be difficult for foresters. Landowners’ motivations towards behavior change should be considered prior to giving advice. The Stages of Change Model, also known as the Transtheoretical Model, assesses whether individuals are ready to perform new behaviors. This model was used to understand how landowner’s motivations towards behavior change affect future reforestation efforts

In the original version of this manuscript, the attached supplementary file was not uploaded upon publication. This error has been corrected online.

There are frequently calls to increase local government control over forests in the US. Minnesota’s county forests contain approximately 30% of all local-government-managed forests in the United States. These forests are managed in ways that protect public access while providing a stable timber supply to mills. This happens because of the intersection of law, markets, and local politics. County forests

AbstractSilvics of North America (SNA) is a widely used silvicultural manual. However, the last SNA was published in 1990. Therefore, 2,589 registered foresters were surveyed across four US states to answer two broad questions: (1) Should SNA be updated? And (2) would an updated SNA still be a useful tool for forest management? Most respondents indicated that the type and extent of content contained

July 2021

Hurricanes cause billions of dollars in damage annually in the United States and are projected to increase in intensity in the coming years. By exploring historical patterns of hurricanes and exposure of these hurricane-force winds across the landscape, areas of potentially high threat to future hurricane winds can be revealed. Combining potential threats from hurricane winds with forest data reveal

AbstractRiparian buffers implemented to minimize sediment, nutrients, and disturbance impacts on streams during forest operations vary greatly in the degree to which ecological criteria are used in their design. Because most forest operations are concentrated around headwater streams, our primary research objective was to identify a floristically based riparian boundary for headwater streams using

Frequently burned old field shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata)–loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) woodlands in the southeastern US provide important wildlife habitat and multiple ecosystem services. Because these communities differ in composition of dominant plant species and have different land use legacies than native pine savannas, the ability to prevent encroachment by off-site broadleaf woody tree species

AbstractConservation of old-growth forests has become an increasingly important objective of Forest Service managers over the last three decades. The US Forest Service recently made changes to policies that prohibit cutting of live trees >53 cm (the “21-inch rule”). We review the disturbance ecology of dry and mesic old-growth forests of Oregon and contrast conservation policies for these two forest

AbstractIn response to the increasing scale of wildfire and forest health challenges in the West, the Intertribal Timber Council, a nonprofit consortium of American Indian Tribes and Alaska Native corporations, proposed creating “Anchor Forests,” where a Tribe would convene neighboring landowners to collectively manage the landscape across property boundaries. This concept has sparked conversation

AbstractClimate change presents a novel and significant threat to the sustainability of forest ecosystems worldwide. The United States Forest Service (USFS) has conducted climate change vulnerability assessments for much of the 193 million acres of national forest lands it manages, yet little to no research exists on the degree to which management units have adopted considerations of climate change

AbstractA significant increase in treatment pace and scale is needed to restore dry western US forest resilience owing to increasingly frequent and severe wildfire and drought. We propose a pyrosilviculture approach to directly increase large-scale fire use and modify current thinning treatments to optimize future fire incorporation. Recommendations include leveraging wildfire’s “treatment” in areas

This synthesis uses an overarching analogy to outline key wildfire social science lessons and present human adaptation to wildfire as an ongoing process of negotiated trade-offs dictated by the site-specific context of particular places. Use of an overarching analogy allows presentation of cross-cutting concepts or considerations for: (1) documenting local social diversity and determining how it might

The Fleischman et al. (2020a) article on US Forest Service (FS) implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) correctly identified a decline in the number of NEPA analyses, but several conclusions were not supported by the data used. After analyzing their and other relevant data, we reached substantially different conclusions. Using FS budget data, we found budgets supporting NEPA

AbstractForest restoration positively affects rural economies by facilitating employment and income generation with logging, wood utilization, and other restoration activities. To investigate economic effects and modeling of forest restoration, a regional contribution analysis of the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) in Arizona was conducted. With over 12,000 acres mechanically thinned in 2017

AbstractForest farming is an agroforestry practice defined as the intentional cultivation of nontimber forest products (NTFPs) underneath a forest canopy. Forest farming perspectives and preferences among family forest owners are generally understudied, particularly in Appalachia, where many marketable native NTFPs species are found. We surveyed Appalachian family forest owners in 14 Southwest Virginia

For over 100 years, the US Forest Service (USFS) has developed initiatives to improve safety outcomes. Herein we discuss the engineered solutions used from 1910 through 1994, when the agency relied on physical science to address the hazards of wildland fire suppression. We then interpret safety initiatives of the subsequent 25 years, as the USFS incorporated social science perspectives both into its

Nonmotorized boating (NMB) is a popular recreation activity in the US National Forest System. Previous studies on NMB were from an individual river or site, which limited aggregating benefit across the system or generalizing to rivers across the country. Further, whether and how site and river characteristics affect the use of rivers for NMB activities are unknown. This study combined trip data collected

May 2021

Members of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) Committee on Accreditation (COA) met September 2, September 16, October 27, October 28, and December 3, 2020 via Zoom video conference to review 32 degree programs at 22 universities and colleges.

Diameter distributions are fundamental characteristics of stand structure. It is widely assumed that unthinned plantation loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) diameter distributions are unimodal and slightly skewed. In this work, the assumption of unimodality is formally tested and confirmed using 413 long-term permanent plots representing three generations of genetics and silviculture across the native

AbstractThe southeastern United States has been experiencing unexplained sugarberry (Celtis laevigata) mortality for over a decade, representing one of the most severe and widespread Celtis mortality episodes ever reported from North America. Here we describe external symptoms, progression of mortality, and the known geographic extent of the problem. More than half of all trees monitored at one site

This article explores the changing relationships between the USDA Forest Service and 10 small, forest-based communities in the Northwest Forest Plan area in Washington, Oregon, and California. Interviews with 158 community members and agency personnel indicated that community member interviewees were largely dissatisfied with the agency’s current level of community engagement. Interviewees believed

Landscape-scale maps of tree species densities are important tools for managing ecosystems threatened by forest pests. Eastern hemlock dominates riparian forests throughout its range. As a conifer in a deciduous landscape, hemlock plays an ecohydrological role, especially when other species are dormant. The nonnative, hemlock woolly adelgid has caused widespread hemlock decline and mortality. We used

This article was published with an error in the caption for Figure 1. The caption should read as follows:

AbstractA survey of businesses that provide a variety of forest management services indicated the importance of H-2B guest workers in performing important tasks which facilitate management and sustainability of forest resources in the United States. Those workers accomplish a wide variety of tasks with tree planting being most common. Although the positions filled by those workers are first made available

Forest disturbances caused by insects, pathogens, and fire continue to increasingly occur within forests across the United States and around the world. Given the dynamic nature of these forest disturbances and the role played by local residents in risk management, it is valuable to explore how the human experience, attitudes, and behaviors associated with these ecological processes may evolve over

This study analyzes changes in timberland ownership from 2003 to 2012 across the northern United States based on Forest Inventory and Analysis data identified according to five ownership categories. A total of 26,940 FIA plots that were remeasured between selected years were used for the analysis. Publicly available corporate ownership data were investigated and used to differentiate industrial and

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) serve as an excellent remote-sensing platform to fulfill an aerial imagery data collection niche previously unattainable in forestry by satellites and manned aircraft. However, for UAS-derived data to be spatially representative, a precise network of ground control points (GCP) is often required, which can be tedious and limit the logistical benefits of UAS rapid deployment

March 2021

Certain silvicultural operations enhance the flow of ecosystem services derived from forestlands. Monetary estimates of an increased flow of such services that can impact forest management decisions are generally lacking. Here we use a growth-and-yield model to estimate physical changes in water yield and assign monetary values to these changes under different regimes of forest thinning and planting

Ownership of forestland in the United States has changed in recent decades, including the proliferation of timber investment management organizations (TIMOs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs), with the potential to alter forest management and timber supply. This article quantifies forest ownership transitions among ownership categories between 2007 and 2017 and investigates how and why large

Oregon softwood log exports experienced a resurgence during years after the Great Recession. Using an empirically grounded partial equilibrium model, the purpose of this study is to assess the net effects of log exports on total economic surplus by measuring the effects of a hypothetical absence of export markets from 2010:Q1 to 2015:Q4. Based on our modeling results, the net economic losses would

Photograph 1 [22423A]: When the USDA Forest Service’s Southern Forest Experiment Station began operating on July 1, 1921, the Station had its inaugural silvicultural research project already in the woods. In 1915, Samuel Trask Dana, C.R. Tillotson, and some others from the agency’s Washington office collaborated with Henry Hardtner and Urania Lumber Company to establish a series of plots on the Company’s

Swiss needle cast (SNC), caused by Nothophaeocryptopus gaeumannii, is a foliage disease of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), that reduces growth in native stands and exotic plantations worldwide. An outbreak of SNC began in coastal Oregon in the mid-1990s and has persisted since that time. Here we review the current state of knowledge after 24 years of research and monitoring, with a focus on Oregon

For centuries, forest management has provided great benefits for local and global populations, especially in terms of wood production (Wagner et al. 2004, Puettmann et al. 2009). However, recent events have begun to undermine the confidence that our management practices are adequate to ensure the continued provision of desired ecosystem services (Figure 1). For example, large-scale insect infestations

The 2020 SAF National Convention was held virtually October 29 – 31, 2020. The convention program, From Metropolis to Wilderness: Foresters Rooted in Conservation explored how we all play a critical role in fostering local and worldwide economies, vibrant communities, and thriving forests, sharing a common role of responsible forest stewardship.

Diameter distribution models are useful tools for forest management planning, in particular for even-aged plantations of important commercial species such as loblolly pine. Using data collected from loblolly pine plantations across East Texas, two diameter distribution model systems were developed, with the first being a conventional, Weibull-form statistical model system and the second being developed

In 1909, the University of Minnesota secured 2,640 acres of tribal forest lands on the Fond du Lac Reservation in northeast Minnesota for a school forest.11 The station’s purpose was “to demonstrate proper methods of forest management and reforestation in the Lake States; and to advance the science of forestry as a whole” (Zon 1912, p. 1; Figure 1).

Over the last four decades, forest management goals have transitioned to multiuse objectives, begging the question of their impact on wildlife habitat. Using USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis data and the WHINGS (Wildlife Habitat Indicator for Native Genera and Species) model, the trends in wildlife habitat were quantified from 1977 to 2018 across Minnesota. Statewide, 35.5% of species

The largest concentration of state-level forest cost-share programs in the United States can be found in the southern states. Since the inception of the first programs in the 1970s, the state-level forest cost-share programs in the US South have acted as models for the rest of the country. Cost-share programs compensate landowners through direct reimbursements to address barriers such as limited owner

Not all urban greenspace is the same. Natural area forests can provision more benefits than designed landscapes, and healthy natural area forests can provide more benefits than degraded and invaded forests. Yet there is little information about the scale of natural areas in cities and their management systems. We used data sets on city parkland from across the United States and surveyed practitioners

This Journal of Forestry quiz is approved for 4.5 continuing forestry education (CFE) hours in Category 1-CF by the Society of American Foresters. Successful completion of the self-assessment, defined as a cumulative score of at least 70%, is required to earn CFE credit. CFE approval is valid for one year from the issue date of publication and participants may submit the quiz at any time during that

The effects of midrotation competition control and fertilization were studied in two loblolly pine stands in the Coastal Plain of Georgia. The use of fertilizer or herbicide alone did not enhance wood yields above the control, which negates the cost spent to conduct these practices. The combined treatment of fertilization and herbicide promoted higher average pine annual increment and greater proportion

Changing environmental and social forestry contexts present new challenges for forestry graduates. In contrast with previous generations, forestry students today must be prepared to handle the impacts of climate change and increasing fire severity and frequency, as well as critical human dimensions, including the need to collaborate with Native American nations. To explore the extent to which social

There has been limited research investigating summer habitat use of bats in managed forests in the northeastern United States. Consequently, there is limited knowledge to inform forest managers seeking to maintain or enhance bat habitat, particularly for several federally threatened, endangered, or candidate species. In summer 2017–2018, we conducted repeated acoustic surveys to determine what forest

Fuel reduction treatments implemented by nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) landowners affect wildfire hazard potential on both their tracts and surrounding lands. However, it is not clear how concerned they are about wildfire damages and what actions they are willing to take to lower wildfire hazard. This study determined the landowner concern level about wildfire damages and identified factors affecting

AbstractIn 2019, the Forest Productivity Cooperative (FPC) celebrated its 50th anniversary. The mission of the FPC is and has been creating innovative solutions to enhance forest productivity and value through the sustainable management of site resources. This industry-government-university partnership has generated seminal research with sweeping implications for increasing productivity throughout

resistance breedingshared stewardshipforest healthtree improvement

AbstractAn estimated 10 million families, individuals, trusts, and estates own 39 percent of the forestland in the United States, excluding interior Alaska. Using segmented regression, the relationships between size of forest holdings and the attitudes and behaviors of these family forest ownerships were tested using data from the 2018 iteration of the USDA Forest Service’s National Woodland Owner

AbstractIn response to the strategic plan required by the Agricultural Act of 2014, the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program is initiating a strategic inventory of the nation’s urban forests. The inventory is designed to provide timely and credible data on urban forests, thereby meeting an expanding need for information on trees located in communities where more than 80%