Forest nursery management is entirely different from the management of forests themselves. Seedling production for the nation's reforestation is dependent on approximately 9,000 nursery acres. Incentives are enormous to avoid seedling loss caused by pests, especially weeds, insects and diseases. We can assume that maintenance of the various forest resources is in the best interests of all. If we are to use these resources and maintain them indefinitely, we must manage them carefully.
All forests have many species other than commercial timber species.
As long as the commercial trees are dominant, these noncommercial plants provide diverse habitat for wildlife and do not usually interfere with the management for timber. When timber species are removed without suppressing the noncommercial species, the noncommercial trees become dominant forest weeds and restrict development of a new forest. They can form an entirely unutilizable stand. Forest managers must use various means for controlling forest composition. The lack of using any method has been the prevailing approach on most of the commercial forest land in the United States for its entire history of exploitation.