As a result the consensus reached represented a truly interdisciplinary and balanced approach for identifying and resolving forest management issues. In keeping with this initiative, the Center thrust was expanded in 1994, bringing forestry faculty, resources and technologies from throughout the university system to bare on forestry issues. Our forests provide a wealth of resources for society. They provide jobs and income and a variety of products vital to our needs. However, they also provide a myriad of nontimber resources which contribute to the cultural, environmental, and economic richness of the region.
Conflicts often emerge over whether to manage for commodity resources of amenity values.
Unfortunately, we lack adequate data and information on how various forest management practices affect our shared and valuable water, wildlife, and recreational resources. Implicit in maintaining forest productivity and minimizing undesirable environmental factors is the need to evaluate long-term effects of external influences such as global warming on forest resources. Given the potential consequences of these impacts, we are working to establish baseline data for evaluating long-term changes in forest growth and productivity. As demands on forest resources increase and conflicts become more emotionally charged, the need for factual data and objective analysis becomes even more critical. It is more apparent now than ever that no one forest management system is applicable in every situation.