Karl is humble. No they don't. Managing forests isn't astrophysics. It's part science, part art, part experience, and mostly ethics. Because those cave men were dominated by Republicans.
Much research needs to be done.
But, people are going to cut trees and forests. Much of this is done wrong. Forest harvesting isn't going to wait until we have perfect understanding. Something less than perfect understanding is not dangerous to the ecosystem. Which is why Karl and I dislike the 2 most common forms of logging, clearcutting and high grading.