North Central Research Station

Plantation of red pine with shoot blights.
Photo by M. Ostry

The issue

Just as forest ecosystems constantly change over time, so too do our desires to manage for different goods and services from our forests. In response, foresters are beginning to manage forests differently than in the past to achieve these new goals. New management includes growing trees to older ages, creating stands of mixed aged and mixed species, and growing trees in intensively managed plantations, similar to agricultural row crops, to produce energy and fiber. Some of these practices inadvertently create conditions conducive to the development of damaging diseases.