Charting Forestry's Uncertain Future

A review of Franklin, Jerry F., Norman Johnson, K., and Johnson, Debora L.. Ecological Forest Management. Waveland Press, Inc., Long Grove, Illinois, 2019. Ecological Forest Management marks a major transition in forestry and charts a new path forward. This is the fifth edition of the textbook Forest Management which has spanned 50 yr; the previous four editions under the lead authorship of L. S. Davis were founded on economic principles and emphasized long‐range planning assuming a rather stable and predictable future. However, profound changes in forestry and its social and environmental contexts have forced change. The Pacific Northwest of the United States, home of the authors of this new text, has been a crucible of conflict and creativity in forest ecology and forest management, forging that change. Forests are increasingly viewed as complex ecosystems rather than simple collections of trees; top‐down, governmental decision‐making is giving way to more collaborative, inclusive, bottom‐up approaches; and uncertainty of future social and climate environments is more deeply embraced. This book reviews these changes and lays out a comprehensive view of forests as whole ecosystems that can be managed to sustain ecological processes, while providing some flow of forest products and other services to humans. It begins with a chapter “Sustaining forests and their benefits,” containing sections on the major themes of the book: (1) “An ecological approach to forest management,” (2) “The contributions of expanded scientific knowledge,” (3) “The public policy framework for forest management,” (4) “Negotiation: An essential element of forest management planning,” (5) “Change and uncertainty: An enduring constant in forest management,” and (6) “Coping mechanisms: mysteries, wickedness, and tenets.” Four or five chapters comprise each of the four core parts of the book: “Ecological foundations,” “Economic and social context,” “Current issues in forest management,” and “Forest planning.” A single concluding chapter, “Potential contributions of ecological forest management,” addresses overall goals and philosophy and the emerging adoption of ecological forestry perspectives world‐wide. Although the authors are rooted in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, their view and their examples span the country and give special attention to National Forests. The book is beautifully produced. The text is clean; varied font aids in following the story and identifying key terms and their definitions; and sidebars offer explanation and elaboration. The bibliography is