Nearing the end of a lifetime in the boreal forest, a retired forester writes a passionate plea for rational, science-based forest management. The boreal forest is constantly changing, often dramatically. We like to picture it as a stable, balanced system. Really, it is anything but stable. The boreal forest is dynamic. For over sixty years, forester Malcolm F. Squires has seen mature forests within protected areas devastated by insects, moose, wind, and wildfire. While the forests often return from this destruction, they are never quite the same. A naturally balanced boreal forest is a human notion that does not match the reality of nature. If we don’t soon recognize and accept that reality and stop making irrational demands that a forest be “protected” from change or human management, we may be dooming them to disaster.

Global Change and Forest Soils: Cultivating Stewardship of a Finite Natural Resource, Volume 36, provides a state-of-the-science summary and synthesis of global forest soils that identifies concerns, issues and opportunities for soil adaptation and mitigation as external pressures from global changes arise. Where, how and why some soils are resilient to global change while others are at risk is explored, as are upcoming train wrecks and success stories across boreal, temperate, and tropical forests. Each chapter offers multiple sections written by leading soil scientists who comment on wildfires, climate change and forest harvesting effects, while also introducing examples of current global issues. Readers will find this book to be an integrated, up-to-date assessment on global forest soils. Presents sections on boreal, temperate and tropical soils for a diverse audience Serves as an important reference source for anyone interested in both a big-picture assessment of global soil issues and an in-depth examination of specific environmental topics Provides a unique synthesis of forest soils and their collective ability to respond to global change Offers chapters written by leading soil scientists Prepares readers to meet the daily challenges of drafting multi-resource environmental science and policy documents

"The main purposes of this guide are : to summarize the knowledge of the silvics of spruce; to desctibe the current timber management practices for spruce in Ontario; to identify key factors that the manager must consider during the development of the Timber Management Plan and site specific prescriptions; and provide a basis for subsequnt development in both knowledge and practice. ... The principles outlined herein may be applied elswehere."--Page 1

This bibliography was produced to assist foresters and scientists interested in modelling boreal forest succession at broad scales. It contains more than 600 citations describing existing knowledge on succession in North American boreal forests, and the current state-of-knowledge in modelling succession, with particular emphasis on broad scales. References on succession in boreal forests are grouped by geographic and taxonomic categories. This bibliography also provides information on theories and concepts of succession modelling, issues of scale in modelling succession, the spatial process of propagule dispersal, and the probalistic modelling of forest succession. An author index is provided to help users located citations of interest.