Forest Management

What is forest management? If you were to ask a forester to define forest management, they would probably say, "Forest management is the application of technical forestry principles, practices, and business techniques such as accounting, cost/benefit analysis, etc., to manage a woodland in a manner that achieves the owner's objectives." Simply stated, forest management is giving a woodland the care it needs to be healthy, vigorous, and provides the products and amenities the landowner desires. Forest management is less a subject or a science as it is a process. Think of it as the development and execution of a plan that integrates all the principles, practices, and techniques needed to properly care for a forest.

The Planning Process

The planning process includes careful identification of landowner goals and objectives, inventory of resources, development and implementation of the management strategy to be used, and periodic reevaluation of the implemented strategy. A forest management plan should contain the following information:

• owner’s contact information
• property location (address, parcel numbers)
• preparer’s (qualified professional forester’s) information
• length of plan (normally 10 years from date of origination)
• landowner objectives
• overall description of the woodland property
• property location map
• woodland stands map
• soils map
• forest “stand” level descriptions
• management activities schedule
• addendums (soils, timber information, wildlife, water, best management practices, forest health, wetlands, threatened and endangered species, archeological and historical resources, recreation, aesthetics, other resources, fire, carbon cycle, and forestry terms)

Finding a Qualified Forester

Who should write a forest management plan? A qualified professional forester is the best place to start. The Ohio Society of American Foresters maintains a directory of professional foresters within Ohio (osafdirectory.com). The Association of Consulting Foresters of America, Inc., Ohio Chapter also maintains a list of their member foresters (ohioacf.com). The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry maintains a list on their website of foresters qualified to write plans for landowners interested in enrolling into the Ohio Forest Tax Law program (ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/safety-conservation/woodland-management/04-oftl). District conservationists with the Natural Resources Conservation Service likewise maintain a list of technical service providers (qualified foresters), who can write forest management plans funded through federal cost-share agreements.

Identify Landowner Objectives

An important beginning step in developing a management plan is to identify landowner objectives:

• why they own the woodland
• what products and amenities they wish to obtain from the land
• their ownership concerns

It is imperative that these objectives be identified at the beginning of the process. This allows the woodland's resource inventory to be used to define the goals of the management plan. Table 1 lists common reasons that multiple-use perspective owners have for owning their woodlands (Tools for Engaging Landowners Effectively, 2022). Table 2 lists the property concerns of these same woodland owners (Tools for Engaging Landowners Effectively, 2022).

Some landowners may be interested in emphasizing only one management objective. They might, for example, be interested in maximizing the net financial return on investment through timber yield, or they might wish to develop the forest primarily as wildlife habitat. Management goals such as these, which emphasize a single resource objective, are called dominant-use management. The forest can and will provide other products and amenities as it is managed (e.g., cuttings to enhance wildlife habitat will yield timber and/or income), but the management plan is developed to enhance or improve one dominant resource.

Most landowners, however, are interested in obtaining more than one product or amenity from their forests. They might, for example, desire income from timber harvest while also enhancing wildlife habitat and maintaining the forest’s aesthetic quality. Forest management designed to enhance or produce more than one product or amenity is called multiple-use management. It is important to note that multiple-use management does not require that every acre of the forest be managed for every desired product or amenity, but rather that the forest, as a whole, be managed in such a way that it yields the desired mix of products or amenities. In the previous example, some acres might be managed by harvesting timber primarily for aesthetic considerations, while management practices on other acres are undertaken to enhance wildlife habitat.

Resource Inventory

Once ownership objectives have been defined, resources can be inventoried. The tree/forest resources should be inventoried. This includes cataloging forest characteristics such as numbers of tree species and comparing non-native versus invasive species as well as measuring the condition, numbers, age, volume, value, growth, and basal areas of trees. Soil/site quality will be evaluated to determine what the site can produce. Depending on ownership objectives, other resources may be inventoried such as boundaries, wildlife, wildlife habitat, streams, trails, roads, campsites, vistas, and easements. Inventory data are analyzed to determine what is present and what the forest site can produce.

Develop and Implement the Management Strategy

Based on inventory analysis, one or more forest management strategies are then developed to achieve ownership objectives. Management strategies are based on and limited by what is biologically/ecologically possible in the area, what is economically and organizationally feasible, and what is socially and politically desirable.

The biological/ecological characteristics of the forest (e.g., tree species, soil type, topography, etc.) determine what is possible in the area, including such things as which tree species will grow, how fast they will grow, what wildlife will live in the area, etc. Based on the biological/ecological characteristics of the site, silvicultural practices can be prescribed to achieve ownership objectives. Silvicultural prescriptions are treatments designed to manipulate forested land, such as various kinds of timber cuttings, tree plantings, prescribed burning, and the use of chemicals, including herbicides and fertilizers.

Economic/financial considerations may determine which activities are feasible. If economic/financial objectives are important to the landowner, then the silvicultural activities undertaken must not only be biologically/ecologically possible, but they must also contribute positively to the appropriate economic/financial analysis.

As an example, fertilization of most hardwood woodlands in Ohio would result in an increase in total woodland growth. Therefore, this silvicultural practice is ecologically possible and produces positive results. However, if the cost of the fertilizer were invested in a certificate of deposit, it would increase in value more than the fertilized forest because of the cost of fertilization. Therefore, if economic/financial return is an important ownership objective, fertilization is not an attractive silvicultural alternative.

On the other hand, there may be activities in which the landowner is willing to invest with little or no expected financial return because of the expected non-financial returns. These might include the development of hiking trails, vistas, or wildlife habitats.

Similarly, limited financial or organizational resources may restrict management activities in a woodland. Obviously, if a landowner does not have the financial resources or labor to accomplish desired activities, they won't be done.

Finally, management activities are constrained by what is socially and politically desirable. Activities that violate the law are obviously unacceptable, and activities that upset neighbors are generally not prudent.

The careful development of a forest management plan in consultation with a professional forester is essential if landowners are to achieve their desired ownership objectives. The forest management plan is the blueprint of activities that care for the woodland. It is important to remember that the management plan is not permanent. Rather, it is an evolving plan that should be periodically reviewed and updated.

Review the Management Plan

Changes in ownership objectives, forest inventory, technology, and/or the business climate can all result in the need for modification of a forest management plan. In Ohio, intervals between periodic reviews and updates should probably be no more than 5–10 years and more often if recommended by a forester.

Benefits of Following a Management Plan

Woodland owners following a forest management plan may be able to enroll their property into a program to reduce their property taxes. Ohio has two such programs for woodland owners:

1. Ohio Forest Tax Law (OFTL)
2. Current Agricultural Use Value (CAUV)

OFTL is administered by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry and offers a 50% tax reduction on qualifying forested acreage (Ohio Department of Natural Resources, n.d.). CAUV is a program administered by county auditors that allows farmland and forestland to be taxed based upon the farmland’s agricultural value rather than its potential development value (Ohio Department of Taxation, n.d.). While it is beyond the scope of this fact sheet to cover all the criteria that need to be met to qualify for one of these programs, a professional forester can provide the guidance needed to determine if one of these programs is right for you and your woodland.

A landowner who has a good grasp of what resources they have in their woodland will be better prepared to deal with unexpected changes to those resources. Wind events, new invasive insects, and invasive plant species can all derail a management plan. Understanding what you have and how it impacts what you want to accomplish allows a landowner to make management adjustments for unexpected events.

Acknowledgments

Support for the revisions and publishing of this fact sheet were provided through a Lake Erie Forestry Education Assistance Grant funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Additional Resources

• Download a PDF of this fact sheet

References

Ohio Department of Taxation. (n.d.). Current agricultural use value (CAUV). Ohio Department of Taxation.
tax.ohio.gov/government/real-state/cauv

Ohio Department of Natural Resources. (n.d.). Ohio forest tax law.
ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/safety-conservation/woodland-management/04-oftl

Tools for Engaging Landowners Effectively. (2022). Find profiles.
engaginglandowners.org/landowner-data/find-profiles?region=All&state=44

Originally written February 21, 2002, and subsequently reviewed May 20, 2016, by Randall B. Heiligmann, Specialist, Forestry; College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences; Ohio State University Extension.