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Restoration Forestry—Many Changes Ahead
GORDY SANDERS AND LOREN ROSE, PYRAMID MOUNTAIN LUMBER, INC.
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"Restore" means to bring back to a former or original condition. Contrary to what its name suggests, Restoration Forestry is aimed at achieving a future condition, rather than returning forested landscapes to their former condition. The practices of Restoration Forestry are integral to achieving the sustained production of goods and services from forested lands that our nation demands, including clean air and water, fish and wildlife habitat that will support abundant diversity, and unlimited opportunities for year-round recreation.
Historically, our forested landscapes were dynamic mosaics of complex plant communities—constantly growing, changing and evolving as disturbance and succession occured over time. Thus, restoration must be an ongoing process. The journalist and teacher Alston Chase has been quoted as saying, "There is no such thing as leaving nature alone. People are part of creation. We do not have the option of choosing not to be good stewards of the land. We must master the art and science of good stewardship." Restoration Forestry is part of good forest stewardship—actively managing our forest landscapes to produce desired forest conditions and subsequent outputs of goods and services. Its practices provide options with a degree of predictability not found in nature.
Today's forest environment has intermingled ownerships, and includes residences, communities and roadless lands. Implementing Restoration Forestry thus presents both challenges and opportunities for rural communities, their skilled workforce, and contractors. The most up-to-date equipment for managing the land is technologically advanced, light on the land and very expensive. The equipment required to do the work starts at $75,000 and pushes upwards to $300,000. Adding in costs for maintenance, insurance, and fuel makes Restoration Forestry very costly. In addition, a recent study in Idaho revealed an aging workforce in the professional logging community and various Logging Associations estimate the cost of training a new operator is between $50,000 to $75,000.
The natural candidates for performing restoration work are logging contractors. Unfortunately, many of them currently do not have the skills the new equipment requires, nor do they wish to go into debt to purchase it. Recent mill closures and the dwindling federal timber sale program makes the industry's future uncertain, which leads many woods workers to decide that there are easier ways to make a living. In Montana, for example, the timber industry has lost 100 log truck loads a day in logging capacity in 2005. That volume would supply more than three sawmills.
The answer regarding the future of forestry lies with the next generation of loggers. They grew up with video games, so operating today's equipment poses an ideal challenge for their skill set. But even if they quickly master the new machinery, they will face even tougher challenges: the high cost of acquiring equipment, the inconsistent availability of work and the question of whether enough revenue can be generated to make the risk worthwhile.
If we believe that Restoration Forestry has a place in our timberlands, what can we do to further its adoption? First, we need to encourage landowners to improve the health of their forest. Then, we must develop markets for all of our forest products. If additional funding is required to make projects "pencil," we must determine sources for those funds. Finally, young start-up entrepreneurs will need financing. Since much of this work needs to be done on federal lands, a loan program through U.S.D.A. Rural Development may be part of the solution. Many young people remain committed to life in rural America and are willing to take on the risk of being a "restoration logger—doing the right thing on the ground for the right reasons." Minimizing the risk of earning a living through Restoration Foresty to an acceptable level will be key.
Restoration of our forested landscapes revolves around public/private partnerships and collaborative efforts that implement active forest management on the ground to achieve desired future conditions. Bringing together diverse interest groups that understand the interdependency between ecology, economy, and community is integral to increasing the scope of stewardship and restoration efforts.
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