Our forests provide human society with many useful and important products and services, with the added benefit that these products and services are renewable if the resource is managed carefully. These include the obvious products made from timber (from lumber, particleboard, and millwork to paper, to woodchips for biofuel) and speciality products such as mushrooms, birch bark, and ginseng; and wildlands for recreational activities such as hiking, fishing, hunting, kayaking, photography, etc. In addition, there are less-obvious benefits such as clean water for towns and cities; open space; and habitat for animals from bears, deer, and bobcats to salamanders, butterflies, and trout. However, maintaining sustainability requires knowledge of how forest ecosystems work and how changing climate and human influences are affecting them. Studies by NRS scientists help us gain that knowledge.

Science Topics

• Methods to conserve and enhance forest resources
  • Timber productivity and wood quality
  • Special forest products
  • Wildlife and fish
  • Biodiversity and structural and functional complexity of forests
  • Recreation, experience of natural places
  • Feedstocks for bioenergy
• Forest resource monitoring and assessment
• Globalization impacts
• Science to support the National Fire and Fuels Strategy
• Understanding the ecological roles of natural disturbance