More recently, a Weaver Lecturer presented a different perspective. Al Bartlett, a physicist, examined the finite context of an exponentially increasing population and the amount of resources required to sustain an exponentially growing population. He was espousing the need for population control, which is a topic that many foresters consider as beyond the bounds of concern by foresters, but population impacts the management of natural resources. The outreach or extension forester must consider the definition of sustainability and incorporate very basic philosophical ideas. This often creates a dilemma of how to attack the problem.
Sustainability is complex.
This complexity has spawned many definitions of sustainable forestry. We conduct conferences at various national and global levels to develop a clearer definition. There are extension educators here who are trying to get additional insight into sustainability to better define it for themselves. Research has been fairly incomplete in the specifics of sustainability. There are scientists studying various aspects of sustainability.