Forest Health Tool

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The Forest Health Tool is designed to help landowners use visual observations to assess and evaluate their woodlot’s health and level of risk based on a forest conditions and characteristics. This tool is meant to guide conversations about forest management, not to provide a comprehensive woodlot inventory. Please use it as a starting point to make observations and facilitate conversations about forest health.

FOR LANDOWNERS: You can use this tool even if you are brand new to forest management. For example, although you may not be able to identify all the species in your forest, you can probably tell roughly how many different tree species there are and therefore estimate species diversity. FOR

MASTER FOREST OWNERS AND FORESTERS: The assessment can help direct and frame conversations with landowners. It can be helpful to point to forest conditions that are healthy, as well as identify areas that need attention. The tool can also highlight noteworthy conditions on the property, recognition of which can increase landowners’ confidence and knowledge base. The evaluation of forest health is an inexact science, and different people may interpret conditions and estimate risk differently. The following examples may help as you consider how to characterize your forest’s health.

Keep in mind that there are no right or wrong answers when using this tool, and your assessment may change over time due to your changing goals and knowledge or due to changes in the forest. This tool is a way for landowners and forest advisors to balance the complexities of forest management in a structured and consistent way. It is not meant to be prescriptive, but instead to serve as a guide. We encourage you to use the assessment as a way to explore your woodlot and to work with forest professionals to develop management strategies based on your goals.