The potential for integrated resource management with intensive or extensive forest management: reconciling vision with reality

Abstract

In the past decade, forestry has progressed beyond harvesting and regeneration towards more integrated resource management (IRM). The concept of IRM has been endorsed in policy statements by the Canadian Institute of Forestry and many government forestry agencies. The vision of an IRM system begins with open dialogue between informed resource users who may have different resource needs. Intensive and extensive forest management options can be considered under an IRM framework. However, in reality the forest manager is increasingly forced along the continuum from extensive to more intensive practices. A case study provides an example of the benefits from intensive forest management within an IRM system.