**Exercise 2.8: Promoting Forest Health**

> *The goal of this exercise is for each of you to assemble the health
> issues you think you can most effectively use to promote your services
> to interface landowners or communities. Because some aspects of forest
> health seem less relevant or less sexy than others, this is not an
> easy task. In fact, you may find some aspects of forest health a
> detriment to your professional credibility because you are unable to
> solve them. Each slip of paper contains a different health issue.*
>
> Discussion Question:

-   What are difficulties caused by multiple and conflicting definitions
    of forest health?

-   What are some reasons why forest health remains a politically
    appealing and publicly accessible way to frame forest management?

-   Is there anything wrong with exotic and non-invasive species (e.g.,
    tomatoes, roses, zinnias)?

### **Handout 1: Forest Health Definitions**

**Sustained Yield**

Forest health can be defined in terms of a forest maximizing the
sustained yield of wood, year after year in perpetuity. This may be
accomplished by taking out all the unnecessary parts, such as "weed"
species, that compete with desired, marketable species. A healthy,
managed forest would be composed of marketable tree species, planted in
well-drained soil that does not erode, and supplied with water,
nutrients, sunshine, and carbon dioxide as needed. Each tree's location
would be carefully controlled to maximize its access to air, water,
soil, and sunshine without wasting these inputs. Trees planted in long,
straight rows speed mechanical harvesting, making the forest an
efficient system from input to output. Trees in this regulated forest do
not reach old age.

**Old, Mature, Climax Forest**

Old trees, native species, trees of various ages, meandering pathways,
downed trees full of insects, dead snags providing habitat, and
variability in species and scenery are characteristics of this version
of forest health. Rather than emphasize the sustained flow of resources,
as does the previous definition, this one emphasizes characteristics of
an "old-growth" forest. This forest demonstrates and connotes health by
maintaining a forest ecosystem.

**Biodiversity**

Biodiversity can be defined in ways that emphasize genetic diversity,
species diversity, and/or ecosystem diversity. Most often the term is
used to reference species diversity. Forests are healthy if they support
high biodiversity, or enough biodiversity to assure a functional
ecosystem. This is particularly true for less charismatic species such
as bacteria, whose role in ecosystem health is considerable. There is
debate about whether diversity leads to stability, as once was suggested
and used as justification for increasing biodiversity. It now appears
that some less diverse systems are very stable and some very diverse
systems are unstable.

**Integrity and Naturalness**

A healthy system can be defined in terms of its similarity to pre-human
conditions when it had integrity: "a balanced, integrated, adaptive
community of organisms having a species composition, diversity, and
functional organization *comparable to that of natural habitat of the
region*." (Angermeier and Karr 1994). Deviations from these natural
conditions or from the range of natural variability define deviations
from integrity. The goal of management, then, is to restore these
natural conditions and reduce the impact of humans. A challenge with
this definition is that there are many previous pre-human conditions,
all of which are natural (e.g., 12,000 years ago during glaciation, 2
million years ago before humans, 4 billion years ago before life).The
selection of 1491, for example, (beginning of European settlement) as
the preferred set of "natural" conditions is quite arbitrary.

**Ecosystem Goods and Services**

A healthy system can also be defined as one that provides a sustained
flow of goods and services valued by the landowner and community. Water
retention and purification, wildlife habitat, wood supply, recreation
opportunities, oxygen production, carbon sequestration, and related
goods and services are highly valued and produced by a healthy,
functioning forest. A popular definition of poor forest health notes
conditions such as slowed tree growth, soil compaction and erosion,
slowed soil formation, human health and safety hazards caused by water
quality and quantity, high risk of fire, and a faltering flow of desired
goods and services. Thus, health can be defined entirely in terms of the
social values assigned to forest outputs and processes.

**Exotic versus Native**

Native species are often seen as characteristic of healthy systems, and
such is certainly the case if health is understood as promoting
integrity, naturalness, or native biodiversity. Native species also may
be easier to manage and better able to provide valued ecosystem goods
and services. But some exotic species may be better able to provide
these goods and services and create a stable supply of valued forest
qualities. The case for natives over exotics is not at all obvious;
bees, grasses, and fruit trees are highly valued exotics.

**Resilience**

Forest health also can be defined as the ability to resist perturbations
caused by weather, resource extraction, insect infestation, fire, or
other disturbances. This definition reflects the growing awareness that
ecological systems are in a state of dynamic equilibrium and, if
perturbed enough, can dramatically restructure all system inputs and
outputs. Thus, "a healthy forest has the capacity to vigorously renew
itself and to recover from a wide range of disturbances while meeting
current and future human needs for desired levels of values, uses,
products, and services" (Wear and Greis 2002, Gundersen and Holling
2002).

References:

Angermeier, P. L. and J. R. Karr. 1994. \"Biological Integrity versus
Biological Diversity as Policy Directives.\" *BioScience* 44(10):
690-697.

Gundersen, L. H. and C. S. Holling, Eds. 2002. *Panarchy: Understanding
Transformations in Human and Natural Systems*. Washington, DC, Island
Press.

Wear, D.N and J.G. Greis. 2002. *The Southern Forest Resource Assessment
Summary Report*. Southern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, and
Southern Region, USDA Forest Service.
<http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/sustain/index.htm>, accessed August 30,
2005.

### **Handout 2: Forest Health Issues** 

Young, Thriving, Trees Carbon Sequestration Biodiversity

Old, Mature, Climax Forest Integrity and Naturalness Habitat

Energy Conservation Ecosystem Goods and Service Regulated Forests

Ecological Resilience Habitat for Threatened and Endangered Species

Extreme Weather Ozone Acid Deposition

Climate Change Land-use change Gypsy Moth

Construction Damage Invasive species Non-native species

Butternut Canker Oak Decline Fusiform Rust

Dogwood Anthracnose Littleleaf Disease Household dogs

Annosum Root Disease Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Soil compaction

Southern Pine Beetle Balsam Woolly Adelgid Roadside dumping

Free-roaming cats Poor herbicide application Lyme disease

Poor tree trimming Wrong tree for the site Hurricane damage

(topping)

Sudden Oak Death Syndrome