ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES IN FOREST MANAGEMENT

The necessity and possibility of applying ecological principles to management of the forests are discussed. Sustainable forest management practices must be based on an understanding of how natural forest ecosystems work. Maintenance of soil quality and nutrient stocks may necessitate adjusting timber harvest rates and leaving more large woody debris on cutover sites; Protection of water quality and yield and prevention of flooding and landslides call for greater attention to the negative impacts of logging roads and the value of undisturbed buffer zones along streams and rivers; Conservation of forest biodiversity will often require reducing forest fragmentation caused by clear cuts and constructing roads. What's more, planning at the landscape level is needed to address ecological concerns such as biodiversity, water flows, and forest fragmentation, and land managers should be alert for climaterelated stresses. In general, sustainable management policies must make full use of current ecological knowledge and the goal of our policy efforts today should be to design forest management practices that assure the value of our forest resources for future generations.