The Applied Forest Management Program

An applied research entity to develop and promote silvicultural management knowledge to the full spectrum of Montana’s 11,000 forest landowners.

In 1981, the Montana Legislature funded a new enterprise within the Montana Forest and Conservation Experiment Station called the Mission-Oriented Research Program (MORP). MORP’s primary objective was to develop and disseminate knowledge to improve multi-resource production of Montana’s forests, and it implemented more than a dozen research and demonstration sites on state, federal, and private lands over the last 20 years. The focus of those studies was on the productivity and management of second-growth forests. With the retirement of MORP and its acting director Dr. Carl Fiedler in 2007, it is time to assess Montana’s current forest condition and its management needs.

Today, the frequent occurrence of high-severity wildfires, substantial damage from bark beetles and other insects, and rapid changes in private forest ownerships all imperil Montana’s diverse forestlands. A fundamentally different vision for forest stewardship is emerging that emphasizes forest resiliency and the common ground that can exist between ecological, economic, and social concerns. To achieve sustainability of core forest values, active silvicultural management will clearly play a key role. Moreover, the 2002 Governor’s Conference on Forests in Montana and polls indicate strong citizen support for active forest management.

To help meet the managerial needs to address this challenge, the University of Montana has created a new research and outreach entity, the Applied Forest Management Program (AFMP). With a focus on scientifically-credible evidence, the AFMP is founded on the principle that many of the challenges related to restoring, protecting, and perpetuating Montana’s forests are best met at the stand level with silvicultural techniques that are both ecologically appropriate and operationally feasible. With input from forest managers, the program develops, tests, and demonstrates innovative approaches to silvicultural management that restore fire-excluded and high-graded forests, create disturbance-resilient, ecologically sustainable landscapes, and better serve society’s resource needs. In so doing, the AFMP will also strive to develop stronger relationships with all members of Montana’s forest management community, both traditional and non-traditional, serving as two-way conduit between the University of Montana and those entities.

Dr. Christopher Keyes is Associate Research Professor of Silviculture, and serves as Director of the Applied Forest Management Program at the University of Montana. He joined the faculty in August 2007. Previously he was Assistant Professor of Silviculture at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. Dr. Keyes received graduate degrees in silviculture from Oregon State University (PhD) and the University of Montana (MS), and has worked in various fields of forestry in Washington, Maine, and Florida. His research addresses applied aspects of forest stand dynamics, and has focused on the themes of natural regeneration ecology, dynamics and silviculture of forest fuels, and silvicultural applications for restoring degraded forests.