Forest Management

Historically, forests were managed primarily for timber production. However, contemporary forest management often includes multiple objectives such as improving wildlife habitat, increasing forest resilience to disturbances and climate change, improving water quality, and providing recreation opportunities. Practitioners require science-based knowledge to design treatments that achieve these objectives. 

Research on forest management informs on how we can play an active role in keeping forests healthy. Today more than ever, this work is crucial. Forest ecosystems are facing new stress from climate change and unprecedented disturbance from wildfire, insects, disease, and invasive species. Because of uncertainty around the impacts of climate change to our forests, research is needed to examine the effects of various management strategies, systems, and practices to sustain and enhance the productivity and health of our forested ecosystems. Research on forest management provides the insights needed to inform decisions about how to mitigate or adapt to these pressing challenges across diverse forest types covering over one third of the American landscape.

Scientists at the Rocky Mountain Research Station are studying the ecological impacts of forest management, testing innovative management strategies to enhance forest resiliency and meet multiple resource objectives, and developing novel ways to monitor the impacts of forest management.

• Hotter, drier seasons and decades of fuels buildup are driving prolonged, more intense fire seasons. Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists develop and test forest management strategies that optimize balanced fuels management, enhance fire containment capacity, and promote ecosystem services.
• Our natural systems have a remarkable capacity to adapt and recover. Rocky Mountain Research Station research informs forest recovery and restoration efforts, guiding decisions toward creating more resilient, climate-adapted forested landscapes.

Featured Work

• The Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC) project is a collaborative effort between the Forest Service and variety of other partners across North America investigating adaptation approaches for silvicultural systems under changing climatic conditions.
• Can Fuel Treatments Change How a Wildfire Burns Across a Landscape? - A summary of research on using landscape-scale forest fuel treatments to reduce wildfire risk