THE PRACTICE OF FORESTRY

Forestry-loosely defined as the systematic management and use of forests and their natural resources for human benefit-has been practiced for centuries. Most often, forestry efforts have been initiated in response to indiscriminate timber cutting that denuded the land and caused erosion, floods, or a shortage of wood products.

Ancient Forestry Practices
In ancient Persia (now Iran), forest protection and nature conservation laws were in effect as early as 1,700 B.C. Two thousand years ago the Chinese practiced what they called "four sides" forestry-trees were planted on house side, village side, road side, and water side. More than 1,000 years ago, Javanese maharajahs brought in teak and began to cultivate it. In the African Tropics, agroforestry (growing of food crops in association with trees) has been practiced for hundreds of years.

In the Yucatan Peninsula of southern Mexico, the ancient Mayas cultivated fruit and nut trees along with such staples as corn, beans, and squash. Bark, fibers, and resin were obtained from plants grown in fields, kitchen gardens, and orchards. Early in their civilization, the Mayas practiced slash-and-burn agriculture. As their population grew, they found more efficient methods of growing crops. They terraced hillsides, learned how to decrease the time between "rotations" of agricultural land with native forests, dug drainage channels and canals to move water to and from cultivated areas, and filled in swampland to plant crops.

The agricultural sophistication of the Mayas enabled their civilization to grow and flourish. What brought about their decline about A.D. 820 is not fully known, but some believe that as their society developed, the Mayas made unsustainable demands on their environment.

Relatively little is known about tropical forestry before the mid1800's in most places. At that time, the European colonial empiresnotably the Dutch, English, and Spanish-brought modern forest management practices to Indonesia, India, Africa, and the Caribbean. Centers for forestry and forestry research were established, and more careful records were kept.

Sustainable Forestry
Modern forestry has its basis in 18th-century Germany. Like the Chinese and the Mayan forest practices, German forestry is essentially agricultural. Trees are managed as a crop. Two concepts are important: renewability and sustainability. Renewability means that trees can be replanted and seeded and harvested over and over again on the same tract of land in what are known as crop "rotations." Sustainability means that forest harvest can be sustained over the long term. How far into the future were foresters expected to plan? As long as there were vast acres of virgin (original) forests remaining, this question was somewhat academic. Today, however, sustainability is a vital issue in forestry. Most of the world's virgin forests are gone, and people must rely more and more on second- growth or managed forests. Perhaps we now face, as never before, the limits to long-term productivity.

In the German forest model, forestry is viewed as a continual process of harvest and regeneration. Harvest of wood products is a goal, but a forester's principal tasks are to assure long-term productivity. That is achieved by cutting the older, mature, and slow-growing timber to make way for a new crop of young, fast-growing trees.

Harvest-Regeneration Methods
Three examples of timber harvest-regeneration methods (silvicultural systems) illustrate how foresters manage stands to produce timber on a sustained basis.

Selection
Individual trees or small groups of trees are harvested as they become mature. Numerous small openings in the forest are created in which saplings or new seedlings can grow. The resulting forest has a continuous forest canopy and trees of all ages. Such systems favor slow-growing species that are shade tolerant.

Clearcutting
In clearcutting, an entire stand of trees is removed in one operation. From the forester's point of view, clearcutting is the easiest way to manage a forest-and the most economical. Regeneration may come from sprouts on stumps, from seedlings that survive the logging operation, or from seeds that germinate after the harvest. If natural regeneration is delayed longer than desired, the area is planted or seeded.

Clearcutting systems are often used to manage fast-growing species that require a lot of light. Resulting stands are even aged because all the trees in an area are cut-and regenerated-at the same time. Clearcutting has become controversial in recent years because it has the potential to damage watersheds and because it tends to eliminate species of wildlife dependent on old growth trees. If clearcuts are kept small and the cutting interval is long enough, however, biological diversity may not be impaired.

Shelterwood
In shelterwood systems, the forest canopy is removed over a period of years, usually in two cuttings. After the first harvest, natural

regeneration begins in the understory. By the time the second harvest is made, enough young trees have grown to assure adequate regeneration. Shelterwood systems favor species that are intermediate in tolerance to shade. Such systems are difficult to use successfully and are the least used of the three silvicultural methods described.

Multiple-Use Forestry
Gifford Pinchot, the first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, was also this country's first professional forester. Pinchot advocated the use of forest resources-all resources, not just timber-for human benefit. Pinchot was a strong and charismatic leader, and his ideas helped shape the course of forestry in the United States.

Pinchot had a vocal opponent in John Muir, a young naturalist from California who believed that public lands should be preserved rather than used. Eventually Muir and Pinchot became rivals for public approval. Oddly enough, there was no

loser in this early conservation battle. Muir's preservation ethic became embodied in the philosophy of the National Parks, and Pinchot's concept of wise use became the guiding principle of the National Forests.

National Forests are still managed under the concepts of multiple use and sustained yield. The dominant uses of National Forests are considered to be wood, water, wildlife, forage (for domestic cattle and wildlife), and recreation. Extraction of minerals and other valuable products is also considered a legitimate use of National Forests. Because Pinchot's philosophy left room for the "highest and best use" of a given area, the U.S. National Forests now include a wilderness system of more than 32 million acres (13 million ha) in which timber harvest is not allowed.

Today it is generally recognized that most, if not all, nondestructive uses of forest are valid. Some areas may be set aside as parks; others for wildlife habitat or as wilderness. Still others will be managed for timber harvest or multiple benefits. Today, conflicts arise primarily over where these different uses will be dominant. In the National Forests, such decisions are made through a land-use planning process in which the public has ample opportunities for input and involvement.

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