The Society of American Foresters supports the use of herbicides registered by the US Environmental Protection Agency in the forest environment when the chemicals are applied according to the label directions, environmentally safe, cost-effective, and necessary to control unwanted vegetation. More than half the commercial forestland in the United States is growing wood at less than optimum rates. A major cause of this reduced productivity is competing and undesirable vegetation. Research and operational experience have shown that it is possible to increase the growth of commercially desirable tree species significantly by controlling unwanted vegetation that competes with the trees for light, water, and nutrients. Forestry Herbicides Science and professional practice have demonstrated that one of the most efficient and cost-effective methods of controlling unwanted vegetation is with herbicides.
Helicopters are especially useful in treating large areas and in mountainous terrain.
Although total pesticide use in the United States is on the increase, forestry uses still account for less than 1 percent of all pesticide sales. Vegetation Management Alternatives Herbicides are only one of several vegetative control alternatives available to forest managers. Prescribed fire, manual, mechanical, silvicultural, biological, or combinations of these methods are effective in some situations. There is also the alternative not to treat the plant community. Choice and cost of alternatives depend on the resource management objective, species and age of vegetation to be controlled, topography, soil condition, access, availability of people and equipment, time of year, degree of control required, and environmental constraints such as weather.