The report was subsequently endorsed by the SAF Council. Its findings and conclusions are summarized below. Taken together as a set of principles and guidelines, they should foster understanding of the issue's complexity, and serve as a focal point for discussions which may lead to better analysis and resolution of forest health and productivity issues. Assessment of forest health and forest productivity requires an understanding of both the condition of the forest and the forest management objectives for that forest. Forests, forestry, and forest management objectives change over time.
Forest health is an informal and technically inexact term.
A single national prescription for forest health restoration is not appropriate because economic climate, cultural traditions, political dynamics, and ecological systems vary widely throughout the country. Foresters and their colleagues in other natural resource professions need to work closely together to clarify forest health objectives before some forest health issues can be resolved.