Forest Operations: A Tool for Forest Management

The FORAC research consortium of Université Laval in collaboration with IUFRO Division 3 invited Dr. Han-Sup Han, Professor from Northern Arizona University to its seminar series, Petit Déjeuner, on 26 November 2024. Dr. Han gave a talk entitled "Forest Operations: A tool for forest management". The main issues discussed in the meeting were the use of forest operations for the application of a variety of forest management prescriptions and related challenges. The talk concluded with insights into adaptations required in forest operations to meet future needs. 

The presentation illustrated how forest harvesting systems and practices can be used to accomplish a wide range of forest management objectives. Traditionally, wood production has been the main objective of timber extraction practices to supply raw materials (e.g., logs and wood chips) to the forest products manufacturing companies. While this still holds as an important goal of timber harvesting today, equipment and systems used in forest operations are now often employed to address other forest management issues such as stand condition improvement and fuel treatments to reduce wildfire risks. 

The use of harvesting systems as a tool to a wide range of forest management objectives is now increasingly common, as we often deal with man-made or second-growth stands. Forest operations need to be viewed as an integrated component of forest management and not an isolated field of study. Collaboration with other disciplines is increasingly important in order to address the challenging multiple objectives of today’s forest management. 
 

Report by Shuva Gautam, IUFRO Research Group 3.04.00 Forest operations management