Keywords
silviculture, hydrology, water quality, policy, ecosystem management, ecosystem services, best management practices, regeneration, wildfire
Abstract
The management of forest-based land uses and water resources largely complement one another. Formal research where vegetation versus water-focused resources intersect has been limited primarily to assessing short-term impacts of intensive forest harvesting operations on water quality or watershed discharge. Outside of harvesting, foresters and watershed managers are generally aware that changes in forest structure or evolving management protocols that play out on multi-decadal scales also impact water resources. However, few studies have addressed these in ways that may influence proactive management decision making. Recent changes in water resources and forest management protocols, driven by forces as diverse as urbanization, climate change, fire management, and ecosystem-based management approaches, may warrant a more holistic consideration of their impacts on forest ecosystems and downstream water resources. Starting with the inception of formal forestry in the United States during the early twentieth century, we discuss major forest management priorities and trends to the present and relate these to their primary interactions with water resources. We conclude that purposeful interconnections among forest and water resources management can be expected to increase with the continued expansion of multi-resource ecosystem management paradigms, most urgently with increasing prevalence of wildfire on forested and urbanizing landscapes. Anticipating the benefits of greater dialog among forestry and water resources professionals to address interests and challenges that are both intertwined and evolving, this primer reviews historical forces that have shaped forest management in the United States since the early 1900s and introduces silvicultural concepts as they relate to long-term forest development and associated water resources issues.
