Getting to the Root of Forest Management

Forest health is at the heart of sound and sustainable ski area management. The maintenance of a healthy forest through practices like thinning, prescribed burning, mechanical removal, and revegetation supports a variety of goals. These vegetation management practices reduce wildfire risk, protect infrastructure, ensure public safety, maintain water quality and quantity, reduce pest impacts, and even improve aesthetics. At many ski areas, these goals intersect. 

But vegetation management projects are not without hurdles. Often, the timelines are long, the regulatory processes cumbersome, the costs significant, and the ROIs less tangible than the “simple” math of, say, a capacity expansion.