Forest management

Forest management

Forest management is a simple term for a complex array of activities and experiences that allow landowners to meet specified goals and objectives while maintaining the productivity of their forestland.

Learn how to do a forest inventory, build a forest road, plant and care for forestland trees, thin a stand of trees, harvest timber and provide food, water and shelter for wildlife while protecting your trees from depredation.

Forest inventory

An inventory of current forest conditions is an important tool for management planning. Knowing what information you need before you begin will help you to tailor your inventory to the goals and objectives for the site.

Related resources

Silvicultural systems

Silviculture is the cultivation and care of forest trees and is the heart of the field of forestry. A silvicultural system is a series of planned treatments for tending, harvesting, and reestablishing groups of trees similar in age, composition, and structure (called a stand). The system is chosen for the life of the stand and is a decision that is made long before cutting any trees. Matching a silvicultural system to management objectives and site conditions is important for healthy forests.

Related resources
  • Is new forestry really new? (pdf)
  • Ecosystem management for private woodlands (pdf)
  • Improving forest productivity for timber: a key to sustainability (pdf)
  • Species diversity: a management tool for woodland owners (pdf)
  • Idaho Forest Best Management Practices — Timber harvesting

Forest roads

Road systems are one of the most important and costly parts of a forest operation. Carefully designing and maintaining forest roads provides access as well as protects water quality.

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Tree planting and care

Plant a tree, invest in the future; plant a lot of trees, invest in a future forest. No matter what size, careful planning and preparation will ensure your tree planting project is a success. Find out how forest seedlings are grown. Learn how to plan and prepare for a successful tree planting and care for your trees once they are planted.

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Thinning

The main objective of thinning is to remove the poorer quality trees, reallocating the light, water and nutrients of the site to the remaining trees. Thinning is an intermediate treatment that occurs between silvicultural systems.

Related resources
  • Forest grazing (pdf)
  • Silvopasture — growing trees in your pasture or visa-versa (pdf)
  • Thinning: an important management tool, PNW 184
  • Diameter limit cutting (pdf)
  • Does it pay to thin? (pdf)
  • Silvicultural decisions III — thinning (pdf)
  • Silvicultural decisions V — why and how to thin (pdf)
  • Silvicultural decisions VII — thinning vs. selection harvest/regeneration (pdf)
  • Silvicultural decisions XI: can fire hazard deduction treatments help achieve other silvicultural objectives? (pdf)
  • Idaho Best Management Practices — Timber harvesting

Timber harvesting

Harvesting and processing forest products can be as simple as using a saw to hand-cut a single tree or as complex as using helicopters to salvage thousands of acres of fire-killed forest. Learn more about planning a timber sale, salvage logging, choosing harvesting and processing systems and how to manage logging slash.

  • Planning a timber sale (pdf)
  • Logging selectively, PNW 534
  • Contracting for timber harvest under ecosystem management (SB 63)
  • Idaho forestry best management practices field guide: using BMPS to protect water quality, BUL 891
  • Diameter limit cutting (pdf)
  • Best management practices (BMPS) for timber harvesting in Idaho (pdf)
  • Variable retention harvesting? (pdf)
  • Weekend warrior logging: are you being safe? (pdf)
  • Timberrrr! (pdf)
  • Measuring logs and understanding how logs are sold (pdf)
  • Increasing timber sale profits: beyond getting good scale (pdf)
  • Silvicultural decisions IX: can timber harvesting help reach non-timber goals? (pdf)
  • Silvicultural decisions X: Is there a future for growing and processing timber in the Inland northwest? (pdf)
Salvage logging
  • After the burn: assessing and managing your forestland after a wildfire (SB 76)
  • Salvaging dead timber (pdf)
  • Salvaging beetle-killed trees (pdf)
  • Salvage logging after a wildfire (pdf)
Slash management
  • Tons of slash (pdf)
  • How much fertilizer in slash? (pdf)
  • Ten tips for burning slash piles (pdf)
  • Idaho Forest Best Management Practices — Postharvest activities
Traditional and small-scale harvesting systems
  • Silvicultural decisions II: mechanized vs. conventional logging (pdf)
  • Selecting the right equipment for forestland needs (pdf)
  • Idaho Forestry Best Management Practices — Timber harvesting

Wildlife

Wildlife needs three things to survive — food, water and shelter. Learn how your forestland can provide all of these things for both the largest and smallest of animals.

Related resources
  • Evaluating wildlife habitat for managing private forest ecosystems in the Inland northwest (SB 60)
  • Silvicultural decisions IV — trees on the edge of clearcuts and other openings (pdf)
  • Building birdhouses to attract insect-eating birds (pdf)
  • When cutting firewood remember … there’s life in dead trees (pdf)
  • Wood for wildlife (pdf)
  • Improving ruffed grouse habitat (pdf)
  • Open water for winter wildlife (pdf)
  • Vernal pools what do they mean for tree farmers (pdf)
  • Wildfire and wildlife: living in fire-based ecosystems (pdf)
  • Winter bird feeding (pdf)
  • Integrating wildlife improvements into your woodland plan (pdf)
  • Snowshoe hares (pdf)
  • Control deer and elk browse damage (pdf)
  • Controlling vole damage (pdf)
  • Pocket gophers and tree seedlings (pdf)
  • Porcupines (pdf)
Students harvesting at the Soil Stewards Farm

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