Eastern national forests: Managing for nontimber products

Abstract

Many products are harvested from the forests of the eastern United States that are not timberbased but originate from plant materials. Over the past decade, concern has grown about the sustainability of the forest resources from which these products originate, and an associated interest in managing for these products has materialized. A content analysis of the management plans of 32 eastern national forests revealed that seven of the plans addressed nontimber forest products (NTFP). We used interviews with USDA Forest Service district-and forest-level managers to convey their ideas about NTFP management and to identify critical issues that affect efforts to manage for these products.