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For some landowners, concerns over destroying the natural beauty and aesthetic values of their forest makes them reluctant to harvest timber. To the untrained eye it can be difficult to see the immediate and long-term benefits to wildlife, water, and recreational opportunities that foresters and professional timber harvesters know will evolve from proper forest management. There is no denying that a recently harvested area can be visually unappealing, but expectations can be managed by gaining an understanding of the temporary nature of the disturbance and the benefits that active management provides.
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What might appear to be a tangle of limbs, branches, and leaves that remains after a harvest actually helps renew the forest. As the dead wood decays, nutrients cycle back into the soil and promote new growth. When a harvest is well planned and carefully implemented the disturbed appearance doesn’t last long. Seedlings, shrubs, wildflowers, and other herbaceous species fill exposed soils rapidly. These new sources of food and cover in turn attract a variety of insects, birds and mammals. The leftover woody debris or slash, protects young growth from too much light, strong winds, and hungry deer and provides additional cover to wildlife. The harvested forest is soon transformed to a lush area active with new life. Landowners who are still skeptical, should try visiting a forest that has been well managed in the past.
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Since a forest’s appearance is subject to public perception and opinion, forest landowners, loggers, and foresters need to be aware of forest aesthetics and apply visual resource management practices to enhance the scenic quality of forest management activities.
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