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Foreword to the Revised Edition It hardly seems possible that I wrote the first Foreword to this book ten years ago ! Nor doe s i t see m possibl e tha t th e Blac k Walnu t seedling s I planted i n 198 3 are 25 feet tall and yielding nuts. It i s evident i n the revision s to this new edition an d i n the new Postscript , On Stewardship, that the authors have matured a s well. They have continued thei r professional journeys , including leadership of a state forestry agency, presidency of a state foresters' association and ownership of a unique environmenta l educatio n business . But th e pas t decad e ha s no t been easy for people dedicated to sound land management. It would have been easy to have become a pessimist in the face of the local and global threats to our forest that have intensified sinc e 1983. Despite the somber tone of their new Postscript, it is clear that the authors still "prefer hop e to despair/' as I said in my 198 3 Foreword. They may hav e becom e somewha t disillusione d optimists , bu t the y ar e opti mists nevertheless . A bi t olde r an d a lo t wiser , the y hav e com e t o se e forest stewardshi p i n deeper, more global an d ethica l contexts . They ar e even mor e convinced tha n a decade ago of the enormous importanc e of well-managed, healthy forest s to the health and future o f the planet an d all its peoples. There i s very little I would chang e in my original Foreword , not even the phrase, "written by three young foresters." Despite the seasoning of a decade, these authors still have a lively, young outlook about the future of our forests and the practice of forestry. It is still a book about starting, about planning for the future an d taking those first decisive steps to becoming a responsible forest steward. And for those who began their forest manage ment journe y afte r a n earlie r reading , i t remain s th e essentia l forestr y handbook for the future . University of Vermont CAR L REIDEL January 1993 Professor of Forestry ...

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