Protect Forest Health and Productivity

Protecting the conservation and commercial values of forests necessitates protecting forest areas from potentially harmful effects of diseases, weeds, pests (including feral animals), chemical, and wildfire. It also involves preserving the productive capacity of the forest through conservation of nutrients and protecting the soils. The Natural Resources Management Department gives high priority to the protection of public forests from damaging agents. We will protect the health of the forest by:

• Developing long-term, short-term, and site level management plans that identifies priorities and cover the range of actions to deal with threats to forests.
• Using integrated pest management.
• Being on constant look-out for pest and disease outbreaks as part of regular site visits and inspections and by cooperating with other agencies to ensure early detection and control.
• Working with the MN-DNR and other agencies and landowners to:
  • Develop and implement measures to protect adjacent public and private forest lands from harmful diseases, weeds, and feral animals.
  • Minimize the risk of the introduction or movement of exotic plants, pests, and diseases.
  • Minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfire through prevention and detection.
  • Undertake timely timber salvage operations in the event of catastrophic wind or other weather related events, insect or disease outbreaks, or from catastrophic fire events.

Simply put, healthy soils promote healthy ecosystems. We will protect soil productivity by:

• Scheduling activities to avoid damage to vulnerable soils.
• Matching operating practices to site conditions.
• Suspending operations when and where ground conditions may result in permanent damage resulting from rutting or compaction.
• Managing nutrients on site through silvicultural prescriptions, vegetation management, and slash distribution.

We will promote a healthier forest with better trees by:

• Working with tree improvement cooperatives to ensure appropriate research, testing, evaluation, and outplanting of genetically improved seeds/seedlings.