In our altered modern landscape, the idea of an old growth forest is captivating; we picture primal, untouched wilderness, massive trees and forests full of life. But what is “old growth,” and what role should it play on our modern landscape?
To understand how to take care of forests, we first need to understand what they are and how they work. Within forests, one of the incredible processes that make forests work—and one that we need to learn to accept—is tree death.
To understand how to take care of forests, we first need to understand what they are and how they work. While most peoples’ understanding of them starts and ends with trees, forests are complex, dynamic communities comprised of many different organisms and the processes that affect them.
While we ended up with more snow than we know what to do with, this winter started slowly. If you’ve been following our forest management project at the Andrews Community Forest in Richmond, you’ll know that we struggled with warm weather and soils that didn’t freeze until far later than usual.