Nature, Culture, and Conservation in the Anthropocene - Biodiversity Conservation and Environmental Change - page 162

The search for static conservation targets in dynamic environments is likely to be futile,
since landscapes are transitory (Foster et al. 1996). Returning the landscapes to pre-European
condition is probably unfeasible, as conditions were colder in the Little Ice Age, forest assem-
blages are dynamic, and cultural landscapes are now highly valued. Today's residents have
their own needs, views, and values that must be accommodated alongside biodiversity and
ecosystem service provision, and therefore a much more nuanced approach is needed, which
combines an understanding of past dynamics and resilience, as well as future scenarios and
stakeholder needs in a multifunctional landscape. Though integrated management at the
regional scale is complicated by extensive private land ownership (North and Keeton 2008),
in New England there is the space, the vision, and the opportunity to conserve old-growth
'wilderness' areas and productive forests alongside cultural landscapes that provide employ-
ment opportunities in the agricultural sector (Foster et al. 2010). This approach combines
both wilderness and preservation aims in an ecosystem approach and provides the means to
re-integrate human and nature (Grumbine 1994, 1997) (see Chapter 1). Such multifunctional
landscapes provide habitat for biodiversity, a range of ecosystem services and local products,
as well as a more defined sense of place and a satisfying engagement with the land through
aesthetic, recreational and livelihood opportunities (Foster 2002b). An on-going engagement
with the extensive palaeoecological, historical and ecological reconstructions for the region
and a wide range of stakeholders will add to a nuanced understanding of the environmental
and social drivers of ecological change. The Wildlands and Woodlands vision for New Eng-
land, aims to preserve 70% of New England forests free from development, with 7% conserved
as wildlands and the rest managed for sustainable timber production (Foster et al. 2010). The
vision also includes provision for sustainable agriculture, transport, and energy develop-
ments. It is thus realistic in providing economic opportunity alongside environmental con-
cerns and idealistic in integrating cultural as well as biodiversity, wilderness, and recreational
aspirations (Foster et al. 2010).
Successful future management of the northern hardwood region depends on broader
engagement with networks of local landowners, tribal councils, conservation bodies, and pol-
icy makers. The goals of maintaining or restoring healthy forests for wildlife habitat, wilderness,
aesthetic appeal, recreation and economic opportunity are common to many stakeholders, as
is the need to be able to adapt to changing climate and respond to species introductions. Eco-
system management provides a meeting point for government forest objectives, the needs of
private land-owners, and the rights and traditions of native Americans.
The ecosystem management approach has a legal basis in the 2003 Healthy Forests Restor-
ation Act (USA) but has a much longer history in forest management by native Americans,
who maintained forest heterogeneity and ecological processes, while managing fire, and
using forest resources sustainably (Trosper 2007, North and Keeton 2008). The Menominee
Nation of Wisconsin has established a Sustainable Development Institute that aims to pro-
mote forest management based on a land ethic (<http://www.menominee.edu/About_CMN.
aspx?id=533>). Principles of ecosystem management drawn from tribal forest management
include longer rotation times of over 200 years, restoration of pre-European fire intervals,
selective harvesting to promote uneven age structure and forest heterogeneity, long-term