The Redesigned Forest

Ken A. Armson, a former executive co-ordinator of the Ontario Ministry
of Natural Resources’ Forest Resources Group, is currently a forestry
consultant.

This book essentially represents the author’s philosophical view about
forests, those of North America in particular. Many parts of the book
sermonize about the evil of present forest practices and about Maser’s
view of how “Nature” should be emulated to a greater degree. Since
the author’s experience is primarily in the Pacific Northwest, much of
his book focuses on the forests and forestry in that region.

The book has four parts. The first section, “Nature’s Design of a
Forest Versus Our Design of a Forest,” deals with selected biological
processes, comparing them to what Maser sees as short-sighted practices
geared mainly toward timber production.The second section, “As We
Think, So We Manage,” takes aim at managers whose decisions are based
on short-term expediency; Maser cites examples from European forestry.
At one point, he discusses Freud, soils, and Chernobyl all in one
paragraph! The third and shortest section, “Change: Why Are We Afraid
of It?”, deals largely with human relations as they pertain to forests
and decision-making. Much of the section consists of philosophical
musings on human emotions. The final section, “We Are as Free as Our
Imagination,” puts forward his proposal for “restoration forestry”
that would simulate Nature.

Maser codifies many of the half-truths and myths that abound about
forests and forestry. He identifies some real problems, such as using
the adversarial process to deal with forest land management issues, but
he fails to analyze the situation objectively. Largely he falls back on
pleas for personal integrity and human values—all well and good, but
not too helpful. Unfortunately, he arrives at his final conclusion—the
need for greater diversity in forests and the importance of time and
spatial relationships—by a very emotionally charged discourse.
However, he might well argue that the end justifies the means.