Development of ecosystem management in the Pacific Northwest

During the last decade, the concept of ecosystem management has increasingly influenced forestry practice, but in different ways on federal and private forests. In western Oregon, about two thirds of federal land is reserved for non-commodity use and federal forest managers follow a strict path of ecosystem management. Stands are managed to retain or develop structural complexity and species diversity while landscapes are managed to mimic natural disturbance patterns. On private lands, state and federal regulations and incentives such as Habitat Conservation Plans (HCP) and green certification influence how private forestlands are managed. Large industrial owners continue to focus on timber production within the limits of state and federal laws, with some adopting HCP's that increase landscape planning and landscape diversity. Small private forest managers are more likely to define sustainable forestry in terms of balancing ecological requirements defined in state and federal laws against their aesthetic preferences and how to derive income from their forest. Some have chosen green certification as a way to assure themselves, neighbors and perhaps wood buyers that they are practicing sustainable forestry. At a landscape level these differences are sometimes complimentary. For example, late successional wildlife species are provided for on federal lands, while early successional wildlife species are provided for on large private land. The patch size for disturbance can be large on federal (50-1000 ha) lands where large contiguous areas are designated as late successional reserves or wilderness. Patch size tends to be medium on state and large private (20-50 ha) and small on small private (2-30 ha) forestland. Because ecosystem management varies by forest type and management objectives it is unlikely that the practices adopted in the Pacific Northwest will be applicable in all regions of the world.