Healthy Forests First
Assessing Indicators of Healthy Forests:
a web-based application to provide statewide
information to natural resource professionals
DRAFT – October 2006
Vermont Division of Forests
Public Perception of Forests
Change in the importance of forests to society
– Work force distanced from forest-based careers
– Increasing urban population
– Increasing emigration to VT from urban areas
Result is a growing number of people not engaged
or interested in thinking about forests.
Healthy forests depend on human
communities that understand how
the forest is interconnected with their
own lives.
Teens Like …
Surface Desires
• Cool clothes
• Computer games
• IM, MySpace, iTunes
• Shopping Malls
• Well equipped schools (i.e.
computer technology)
• After school jobs (like for the
money)
• Cars
• Movies and TV
• Snacks and food
• Awesome homes
• Sports
• Recreation: skiing, biking, boating,
hiking…
Deep Desires
• Health
• Clean air
• Clean water
• Security
• Peace of mind
• Warm homes
• Animals, wildlife
• Beauty
• Nature is an integral part of human lives.
• Forests are an integral part of nature.
• Humans and nature interact in a web of
connection.
Web of Connections –
People & Forests
Education
Recreation
Jobs
Human
health
Raw
materials
People
Organic
products
Energy
Wildlife
Aesthetics
Land
ownership
Spirituality
Web of Connections –
Forests & Environmental Topics
Air Quality
Carbon
storage
& cycling
Forest health
& vitality
Environmental
Topics
Soil
Conservation
Water
Quality
Biological
Diversity
Nutrient
Cycling
Web of Connections –
Nature & Forests
Plants
Rocks &
Soils
Animals
Nature
Water
Weather
Air
Balance of Values = Sustainability
Economics
Sustainability
Environment
Social
NEW
Healthy Forests are at the heart of
Forestry Division Functions
Healthy Forests Definition
A healthy forest has the
capacity for self renewal of
its ecological productivity,
diversity, complexity, and
resiliency.
Aldo Leopold:
Healthy forests have the capacity for self-renewal.
VT Forest Resource Plan-Forest Health:
Healthy forests are able to sustain their complexity, diversity,
resiliency and productivity over time.
Healthy Forest Work Group
What are the Steps…
Work Group
Mike Snyder
Lisa Thornton
Chuck Vile
Jeff Briggs
Aaron Hurst
Eric Hansen
Scott Pfister
Bill Moulton
Matt Leonard
Sean Lawson
David Brynn (former
member)
Definitions
Indicators
Web of
Ecosystem
Connections –
Outreach
Pilot
ProjectIndicator
Trends
Social &
Economic
Values
Tie to Division
Functions
Pilot Project Database
Current Data Problems • Forestry staff can’t access or share with each
other all the data they collect, nor can they
aggregate data properly.
• Staff can’t communicate data to the public nor
policy makers.
Database Audience • Forestry staff and natural resource
professionals, so they can use results to inform
and engage the public and policy makers.
Montreal Process –
Criteria of Forest Sustainability
Criterion 1: Biological Diversity
Criterion 2: Productive Capacity of Forest Ecosystem
Criterion 3: Forest Ecosystem Health and Vitality
Criterion 4: Soil and Water Resources
Criterion 5: Forest Contribution to Global Carbon Cycles
Criterion 6: Long-term Multiple Socio-economic Benefits to
Meet the Needs of Societies
Criterion 7: Legal, Institutional, and Economic Framework
for Forest Conservation and Sustainable Management
Montreal Process
Criteria and Indicators
Biological
Diversity
Productivity
Ecosystem Health
& Vitality
Healthy Forest
Carbon Cycles
Soil and Water
Conservation &
Maintenance
Montreal Process Criteria 3:
Maintenance of forest ecosystem
health & vitality
Disturbances
Exotics
Traditional Measurements
Pollutants
Ozone
Ecosystem processes
Ecosystem health and vitality
Healthy ecosystem (Vt Forest Resource Plan) = an
ecosystem in which structure and functions allow
the maintenance of the desired conditions of
biological diversity, biotic integrity, and ecological
processes over time.
Vitality = the capacity to live, grow, or develop.
VT Pilot Indicators Used
1) Amount and distribution of different types of forests.
2) Amount and distribution of different tree sizes, tree
ages, and successional stages within different forest
types.
3) Amount, location and condition of special habitat
features.
4) Number, status and range of forest dependent
species and sensitive natural communities.
Pilot Indicators (cont)
5)
Amount of forestland affected by significant natural or
human disturbances, beyond the range of historic
variation.
6)
Amount of forestland exposed to air pollutants that
may cause negative impacts on forest ecosystems.
7)
Amount of forestland changed by ecological
functions, structure or processes.
8)
Abundance of non-native invasive organisms.
9)
Forest ecosystem biomass and carbon pool.
Current Data Collection Activities
Relevant to Indicators of Health
FOREX
State Lands
Use Value
County Foresters
FIA
Marketing & Utilization
Healthy Forests
Ecosystem Monitoring
Vermont Monitoring
Cooperative
Forest Health Plots
Resource Protection
Lay Monitoring
Take a plot
Street Tree Inventory
Urban Foresters
Healthy Forest Pilot Project
Data Processing
Internal Data Sources
External Data
Sources
Air Quality
Weather
FOREX
NAMP
HHS
VMC
FIA
FHM
UVA
U&CF
Aerial survey summary
Aerial survey
Soils
VMC
VMC
Healthy Forests First Database
Standardized tables of
Indicators
Spatial reference
Site Characteristics
Web Database Application
Choice of Indicators and Scales
Web of Connection
Oct. 30, 2006 Draft
Spatial Data Sources
Future Spatial Application
Click on polygon
List of plot
systems available
Description of
watershed
List of indicators
to choose from
Results show
reference to HFF
Indicators
Summary Report – Healthy Forest Indicators
Complexity
Tree sizes
Forest types
Diversity
Special habitat
features
Forest dependent
species
Ecological Productivity
Tree growth
Ecosystem biomass
Resiliency
Disturbances
Air pollution exposure
Tree condition
Mortality
Landscapes are a patchwork of different
levels of diversity, different composition of
species, different structures and
complexity, and therefore existing in a
range of resiliency.
Tree size distribution
Regeneration most abundant size
Photo: Gary Salmon
Tree size distribution
Pole size trees abundant
Photo: Gary Salmon
Tree size distribution
Mixture of tree sizes
Photo: Gary Salmon
Tree size distribution
Large trees abundant
Photo: Sandy Wilmot
Thanks
Steve Sinclair, Director of Forestry Division
Funding sources:
VMC -Indicator Development, USFS -Planning
Healthy Forests First Work Group