Working with Your Woodland: A Landowner’s Guide

Preface to the Revised Edition

Preface to the Revised Edition Since a central them e o f this book i s the dynamis m o f the forest , th e book, too, must change. Ten years after its first edition, we have updated it to reflect th e responses of New England's forests to significant impact s of weather, disease , insects, and timbe r harvestin g tha t hav e occurre d ove r the pas t decade . O f course , mos t o f th e change s i n thi s revise d editio n reflect developments not in the forest, but in our understanding of it. Our new knowledge and concerns have elevated our standards for good fores t management. We are more concerned no w than te n year s ago about th e ecologica l impacts o f forest managemen t an d logging . Protection o f wetlands, rare and endangere d species , critica l wildlif e habitat s and , i n particular , o f the ecosystem s tha t suppor t an d ar e supporte d b y eac h o f thes e ar e of ever greate r importanc e i n forestry . W e kno w mor e abou t th e negativ e ecological impact s of forest fragmentatio n throug h lan d subdivisio n an d timber harvesting , an d abou t silvicultura l an d lega l mean s o f avoidin g them. Developmen t pressure s hav e reache d furthe r int o th e region' s woods, sweeping away important ecosystems and years of forest manage ment . W e no w believ e tha t goo d forestr y mus t includ e lega l mean s o f protecting productiv e land s an d ecologica l value s indefinitel y int o th e future. Many of the revisions to the first edition reflect technologica l an d legal developments. Timber harvesting machinery has itself not changed drastically , but th e relativ e popularit y o f various type s ha s bee n significantl y affected b y energy and economic trends of the last decade. The most important legal changes over the period have been in timber harvesting and environmental protection law s and i n the state and federal ta x code. The fina l chapte r o f our firs t editio n wa s an attemp t t o predict futur e trends in forestry, most of them technological. Some of these materialized, xx Prefac e to the Revised Edition but mos t other s wer e preempte d b y unforesee n events . What wa s mos t startling for us was that those critical events were not regional, but global. Our outloo k ove r th e last decade ha s changed wit h th e realization tha t New England's forests are no longer just New England's. The final chapter of this edition is a postscript on the meaning of that reality. sr* Working with Your Woodland ...