Harvesting only the most valuable trees from a forest stand might seem financially attractive due to the potential to generate large financial returns in the short term, but research at the Penobscot Experimental Forest shows that this approach costs landowners money in the long run.

Landowners may be enticed to harvest the largest and most valuable trees from their woodland because those trees generate the most income in the near term. Repeated application of exploitive harvests of this kind, which remove the best trees while leaving the worst behind, have been shown through previous research to degrade forest composition and structure. Nevertheless, the financial incentive to harvest this way remains strong. Now, scientists in the Northern Research Station and university partners have generated new findings from an almost 70-year study at the Penobscot Experimental Forest that are dispelling the myth that it pays to practice exploitive harvesting. Scientists found that repeatedly removing the largest and best trees from stands of northern conifers not only reduced the quality and value of the forest left behind but generated less income over the long term than use of some silvicultural practices that focus on retaining and growing vigorous, high quality trees. This work shows that it pays to practice silviculture, providing additional motivation for woodland owners to engage in sustainable forest management.