Forest Farming Practices

Forest farming in North America is becoming popular as a way for landowners to diversify income opportunities, improve management of forest resources, and increase biological diversity. People have been informally "farming the forests" for generations. However, in recent years, attention has been directed at formalizing forest farming and improving it through research and development activities. The purpose of this chapter is to present historical and modern perspectives, as well as examples of contemporary practices, to provide the reader an overview of the abundant opportunities in forest farming. Most of the discussion focuses on the southern United States and western Canada (i.e., British Columbia). These are illustrative of the many opportunities that exist, but do not cover other regions of North America (northeastern and southwestern United States, eastern Canada, or Mexico), where there are also examples of dynamic and exciting forest farming. The reader is encouraged to look beyond the examples provided and explore the many forest farming options.