Sustainable Forest Management

Forests cover 749 million acres, just over one third of the United States. They are home to most of our terrestrial plant and animal species, and they are important sources of jobs, food, medicine, recreation, and spiritual well being for millions of people. Our forests also provide important services such as maintaining our water supplies, purifying our air, and guarding against floods and landslides. In short, our nation's forests are essential to our long-term well being.

The concept of sustainable forest management (SFM) recognizes this connection between the health of our forests and the health of our communities, our economy, and the biosphere. There is no universally agreed upon definition of SFM, although the term is used widely throughout the world. SFM implies a type of management that views the forest not as the source of any one economic product or service (e.g., paper or recreation), but as an integrated whole. SFM respects the full range of environmental, social, and economic values of the forest and attempts to integrate the way these diverse values are managed. Obviously, achieving this goal is a challenge, which is why there is still a lively debate about what SFM really is, how to measure it, and how to attain it.