The face of forestry and natural resource management is changing rapidly. Foresters typically find themselves acting as supporting players in part of a larger team making decisions regarding land management. Ecological forestry involves forest land management in a much broader sense than many traditional practitioners may be used to. The purpose of this blog is not to try to define ecological forestry. If you are looking for more background on concepts and definitions, take a look at the Ecological Forestry Resource Center on the Forest Guild website.
I am hoping that this blog will serve as platform for practitioners of ecological forestry to share information about tools and techniques that they are currently using. You need not be a forester to have an interest in ecological forestry. Ecosystem management is most often conducted by diverse teams of professionals, landowners, and stakeholders. Over the next few months, I would like to take some time look at some of the tools and data that are cheaply or freely available to land managers. These types of tools are crucial because good land management should not be restricted to wealthy land owners or only good economic times. Welcome to The Ecological Forester!