C I N T R A F O R
Special Paper Abstract
High Quality Forestry Workshop: The Idea of Long Rotations Proceedings of Workshop, Silver Falls State Park, Oregon, 10-12 May 1993.
James F. Weigand, Richard W. Haynes, Judy L. Mikowski, Compilers. 1994 (2 65 pp) SP15 $25.00
The High Quality Forestry workshop held at Silver Falls State Park, Oregon, provided a forum for formal presentation of papers and informal exchange of ideas among a broad range of foresters, forest modelers, policy analysts, forest economists, wildlife biologists, forest engineers, loggers, and lobbyists. Steven McDonald, John Henshaw, Richard Haynes, and Judy Mikowski of the USDA Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station in Portland, Oregon, brought together this diverse group. The purpose of the workshop was to forge a vision of future forestry in the Pacific Northwest emphasizing quality in the production of multuple resources that collectively comprise ecosystem values.
Discord has characterized virtually all recent formulation of forest policy in the Pacific Northwest. Productivity of ecosystems is finite, and human demands, especially from a growing population, are seemingly both contradictory and infinite. Conflict is driving decision-making aobut forest ecosystems, but citizens with with very different interestes are increasingly questioning whether largely juridical conflict produces fair or sustainable solutions to problems about managment of forest ecosystems and allocation of resources, costs, and benefits.
In early 1991, M.J. "Gus" Kuehne, President of Northwest Independent Forest Manufacturers, presented leaders in the fields of politics, forest management, and forest research his concept of High Quality Forestry (HQF). Kuehne developed the notion of HQF from his years of ecperience with both the forests and the people of the Pacific Northwest. The goal of HQF is to reconcile the diverse demands of society for multiple goods, services, and ecosystem conditions from the region's National forests. Central to Kuehne's thinking is that culmination of mean annual increment is just one of many criteria used to determine the timing of tree harvests. Habitat needs for threatened and endangered species, economic premiums for older, well-tended trees, the timing of intermediate thinnings, aesthetic and recreational values, and environmental services such as air and water quality, carbon sequestration, and biological diversity must be simultaneously considered as well.
Under HQF, individual acres would be subjected to multiple-use management and not segregated inot reserves solely for timber production or for habitat designated for one or more endangered and threatened species. Thus, more intensive and innovative managment involving a greater range of silvicultural practices would be used to shape forest stands that serve multiple uses and are robust and resilient over long rotations.
This proceedings is the first step toward implementing that goal. It presents current knowledge, discusses gaps in that knowledge, encourages interdisciplinary dialogue, and outlines a program for new research into long-rotation forestry as a means of improving the quality of joint resource production in national forest lands in the Northwest.