The historical development of uneven-aged silviculture in North America

Abstract

Uneven‐aged silviculture in North America has cycled through periods of popularity and rejection. Justifications for these highly varied practices have included attempts to create ‘naturalness’, efficiencies in harvest treatments and economics, and a desire to follow a European example. There have also been attempts to find stand‐ and forest‐level relationships that provided ‘balance’ as a justification for certain types of uneven‐aged management practices. Practices in old‐growth stands in the Pacific Northwest provide an example of these practices misapplied. The repercussions of this unsuccessful effort apparently affected the acceptance of uneven‐aged forest management in other regions. However, uneven‐aged management in other regions, such as drier‐site western conifers, northern hardwoods, and southern pines, was more successful. Successful uneven‐aged management in the future will require practices that recognize the disturbance and stand dynamics of individual ecosystems and use these to guide management.