The thought of doing nothing at all being a valid form of forest management treatment may seem to most as an impertinent notion. This technique is however widely accepted and practiced in forest management around the globe. The philosophy "if it's not broke, don't fix it" has a deep meaning for those in the industry and private sectors that employ this forest management technique.
             Before employing the no treatment technique, or any other forest management technique, the goals of the landowner must be clear. For example the First Mountain forest of New Hampshire is a privately owned and operated forest. Their main goal is to develop a healthy forest that is able to provide for wildlife, recreational trails and a potential future timber value. With this established, they were able to determine that 2 stands, consisting of approximately 17 acres each, were suitable for the no treatment technique due to there being no required action for a period of 10 years. These 2 stands are to be used for the future addition of trails and to provide shelter for wildlife. The remaining stands, consisting of approximately 96 acres, required a more active management technique.
             If the goals of the landowners are pest management as it was in the case of the Department of Natural Resources of Province of New Brunswick in 1992, the no treatment method was shown to produce the least desirable results. As the provincial studies showed the defoliation was highest in untreated stands. With a target of less then 50% defoliation, only 18% of trees passed in the untreated areas as compared to nearly 70% in treated areas.
             Atmospheric carbon dioxide is at an all time high, which is contributing to global worming. One of the greatest tools to combat this is the forest ability to transform atmospheric carbon dioxide into organic matter, otherwise referred to as carbon storage. This is a fact that a few landowners are starting to pickup ...