Logging down the value chain raises future forest sustainability concerns

Over a 50-year period, logging on B.C.-s Central Coast preferentially targeted the highest value locations on the landscape, according to new research from Simon Fraser University. The systematic depletion of high-value components of the environment raises concerns about future sustainability and intergenerational access to natural resources. Led by SFU PhD graduate Jordan Benner and professor emeritus Ken Lertzman and published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , their research shows that, over time, harvesting operations moved to forest stands of increasingly lower productivity and accessibility, which they refer to as -harvesting down the value chain-. -While the approach, sometimes known as -high grading-, is economically efficient, it is contrary to many ideas about the stewardship ethics that are part of forest management,- says Benner. However, the cumulative effects of this historical pattern, combined with policy changes starting in the mid 1990-s, led to shifts in the pattern of logging that reflect a more stewardship-oriented approach. The research highlights the contrasting economicand stewardship-oriented paradigms that are present in forest management-and how policy interventions to influence management play out on the landscape, and their importance for long-term sustainability. -In forestry planning, it is important to understand and consider the unique attributes of residual high value old growth that represent increasingly rare ecological, economic, and cultural values,- says Benner.