Thoughts about forest management Following sound management principles can help you maintain and improve upon the many values and uses of your forestland. We want you, the landowner, to have as much information as possible about your unique forest, so that you can make informed decisions that are based on the best science and professional experience available. As you have probably determined by now, forest management decisions have very

Thoughts about forest management ........................................................... 193 Planning for forest management activities ................................................. 195 Evaluating your forest: The implications of site quality .......................... 197

Topographic and landform features ....................................................... 197 Tree species composition in relation to site quality .............................. 199

Your forest: How do you manage it? ........................................................... 203 Mature mixed-oak forests ............................................................................. 203

Perpetuating the present stand ............................................................... 207 Regenerate the present stand ................................................................... 208 Continue the present stand with no management ............................... 212

Middle-aged mixed-oak forests ....................................................................214 Description ..................................................................................................214 Assessing the middle-aged forest ............................................................214 Selecting crop trees .................................................................................... 215 Other management considerations and options ....................................216 Summary .................................................................................................... 217

Young mixed-oak forests ............................................................................... 217 Description ................................................................................................. 218 Assessing and managing the young forest ............................................ 219 Summary .................................................................................................... 221

Further suggested reading............................................................................ 222

long-term implications and the exact outcomes of these decisions are, like so many other long-term decisions, filled with a degree of uncertainty. The end result of many forest management decisions can take decades before they are fully realized and can be assessed as to what degree the objectives have been met. Therefore, many forest management decisions reach generations into the future. We also feel that it is important to build flexibility into the plan so that during periodic evaluations appropriate modifications can be implemented. Such things as emerging wood market opportunities, insect or disease infestations, significant ice/snow/wind damage events, new research findings or the need to meet personal financial obligations would automatically trigger an evaluation of the forest management plan. Think of your forest management decisions as having three basic components: biological, economic, and social. The decisions must be biologically possible, economically viable, and acceptable to you and your family. We also think it is worthy to note that if you do not get the biological component right, the economic concerns will not make much difference since the underlying tenets of maintaining stand integrity and ensuring sustainability are unlikely to be achieved.