CHAPTER 6. THE FUTURE OF OREGON AND 

 WASHINGTON FOREST HEALTH 



People, as part of the natural environment, 

 have always used forests for their needs. These 

 needs have changed over the years, from gen- 

 eration to generation, and will change in the 

 future. And, at any one time, different uses 

 will be championed by different people. What 

 is perceived to be healthy, or not, may differ 

 between users. But no matter what the forests 

 are used for, they can be considered healthy 

 when disturbance agents, such as fire, insects, 

 and pathogens, remain within limits set by the 

 variability of natural ecosystems. Put another 

 way, forest health is the condition where dis- 

 turbances not only do not threaten manage- 

 ment objectives but work to maintain desired, 

 sustainable ecosystems. 



Management, monitoring, research, and 



public education are the keys to restoring, 



maintaining, and improving forest health. 



• Management, or manipulation of the forest 



by various practices, is a valuable tool to help 



reach a desired outcome within a specified 



period. A variety of mcmagement options to 

 improve forest health in Oregon and Wash- 

 ington are described below. 



• Monitoring is necessary to establish initial 

 forest conditions (the "baseline") and to de- 

 tect changes in those conditions. During 

 implemention of new or untested strategies, 

 monitoring helps determine whether those 

 strategies produce the desired effect. 



• Research is an ongoing need in forest man- 

 agement. Shifts in the focus from stand man- 

 agement to watershed and river basin man- 

 agement require new understanding of the 

 relations between forest organisms and how 

 management practices might affect these or- 

 ganisms individually and collectively over en- 

 tire landscapes. 



• Public education and educational programs 

 are needed to promote understanding of the 

 complexities of forest health and their rela- 

 tions to forest resources, uses, and manage- 

 ment activities. 



Thinning reduces competJtion, stress, and bark beetle susceptibility. 



The Future — 78 



