Planning

Planning is an essential element in sustaining forests. For example, the greatest threat to the future health of southern forests is the introduction and spread of non-native invasive pests. Once these pests are established, a lack of natural controls permits them to become extremely destructive and almost impossible to eliminate. Regulating the movement of plants and plant materials, and detecting and eradicating new pest introductions, are responsibilities of the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). The USDA Forest Service and State forestry organizations work closely with APHIS to prevent introductions and to eradicate them where they occur. Nevertheless, introductions continue to occur, and eradication efforts often fail. The problem is not unique to the South or to the United States. It is an international problem of major proportions.

Forest Health Risk Map

Being aware of risks that a forest may encounter is a way to proactively plan for the future. Risk assessment is one of the most important aspects of forest pest management. If the risk of a major loss is low, there is little point in spending a lot of money and disturbing environments to control a pest infestation. The USDA Forest Service has begun to evaluate areas at high risk from several pests. Areas are considered to be at risk if tree mortality of 25 percent or more is expected during the next 15 years. Nationwide, some 59 million acres of forest are thought to be at risk from insects and disease-causing agents. Gypsy moths and southern pine beetles are the leading causes of risk in southern forests. Some 15 million southern acres are rated as high risk because of these insects.

The Forest Health Monitoring Program was established in 1990 to assess and report on the health of the Nations forest ecosystems. It is a cooperative multi-agency effort. The Program provides for: (1) establishment of permanent plots throughout the Nation; (2) performance of aerial and ground surveys; (3) analysis of plot-based data from USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis Units, national forest inventories, and forest health protection inventories; and, (4) development of necessary methods to achieve assigned tasks.