Intgrated Forest Management

What is the process for developing integrated management programs at the landscape scale?

Implementation of an integrated approach requires a broadening of traditional planning beyond stand-level silviculture. The process involves the following steps:

1. Determining the appropriate scale for analysis (single or multiple ownerships, extent of the planning unit, planning horizon),
2. Gathering and integrating complete range of information about the land, employing a broad range of disciplinary expertise,
3. Assessing the range of stand structures and development pathways,
4. Considering how individual parcels interact within the larger landscape, including reserves,
5. Assessing the mixture of desired goals and outputs against current conditions and available resources for planning and management,
6. Determining goals and desired future conditions,
7. Developing prescriptions or treatments for specific management units, considering both small scale (stand, ownership) and large scale (watershed, landscape) constraints and opportunities,
8. Projecting how conditions are expected to change as treatments are implemented,
9. Adjusting prescriptions (the nature, extent, or timing of treatments, for example) to better meet landscape goals,
10. Developing alternatives and determining trade-offs
11. Implementation of selected approach, including monitoring
12. Revisions (adaptive management)