A Natural Forest Consists of Elements

It was all about fish and Coastal (Oregon) river conditions when I sat down at the Pelican Pub with Guido Rahr of the Wild Salmon Center.  Big trout in Siberia and the uniqueness of the Coastal rivers that flow through Tillamook County (Oregon) were the topics until almost organically the talk turned to trees and forests. They are, after all, where the Coastal rivers start.

“A natural forest consists of elements” Rahr said, durability, arrangement, time, and understanding.

Arrangement, foresters might call them gaps, skips, stands, types but from a fish perspective it’s durable, harvest, mosaic and a Fish and Wildlife Service construct, a Habitat Conservation Plan.  Understanding, as a different way of thinking about or defining place. Acknowledging that each “place” is different and has it’s own statement of how, a unique set of values, it contributes to the whole. Time, not the next click, tomorrow, or next year but looking out to 2060-2070.  A view into the future long enough to see trees grow.

Durability was noted as being the most important. Change is constant be it from fire, floods, or even the effect from a tree’s growth or death. Knowing this, how can a forest be managed to avoid the catastrophic and function with the inevitable.